|
TV Show Reviews
"Fatal
Honeymoon" review by Suzanne
Saturday, August 25 on Lifetime
This is the type of movie that Lifetime is very good at,
and they have made MANY of them. Some psycho guy convinces
some poor woman to fall in love with him, and one of them
ends up dead (usually her). I guess as long as there are
real-life situations like this, they will keep making the
movies. It's very sad, especially in a case like this where
the murderer goes free.
Billy Miller, who is a fantastic actor, best known for
his part on "The Young and The Restless", plays handsome
Gabe, who dates Tina. Tiny seems very insecure and falls for
him, even though she seems way more into him than he is to
her. They move in together, but he won't marry her for a
long time. Her family doesn't like him, either, because he's
kind of rude and moody. He finally does marry her and takes
her on a honeymoon to Australia. Besides Y&R, Miller has
shown on a number of occasions in "Justified" and "Ringer"
that he can play an evil guy as well as a charming one, and
he shows both here (although, most of the evil is hinted
at).
Even though Tina is not a big fan of the ocean, Gabe insists
they go scuba diving. She drowns, and he claims that he
couldn't bring her back up in time. Of course, the whole
thing is very suspicious from beginning to end, and her
father doesn't like him at all. Even though there
isn't a lot of evidence, Gabe agrees to a year of jail time
so that he won't get a murder rap. When he returns home,
Tina's dad has him arrested again. They go to trial, but
there is not enough evidence to convict him.
It's clear that, down in the murky depths of the ocean,
it's hard to prove what really happened, even if everything
seems to point toward this guy murdering his wife. The only
motive seems to be that he asked her to sign over her
insurance so that he would be the beneficiary, but she never
did, so he didn't get anything. At least he didn't profit
from her death.
Harvey Keitel plays Tina's father, and of course he is
awesome, so he does a fabulous job. Both Miller and
Keitel are wasted in this standard drama, but I guess they
must have figured that it was a good real-life story, and it
was good to shed light on the story, since the alleged
murderer mostly got away with his crime.
It's an enjoyable movie, with not only good acting, but a
pretty good script. It has some really nice photography of
Australia and the ocean. It's well worth checking out.
MORE INFORMATION:
LIFETIME PREMIERES FATAL HONEYMOON
STARRING HARVEY KEITEL, BILLY MILLER
AND AMBER CLAYTON
Film Based on True Story of Newlywed Who Died on Australian
Honeymoon with Husband to Premiere August 25
LOS ANGELES, CA (July 25, 2012) – Based on a true story, the Lifetime Original Movie Fatal
Honeymoon tells the shocking story and controversy surrounding a newlywed who tragically dies on her
dream honeymoon and the subsequent investigation as to whether or not her husband was guilty of killing
her. Academy Award® and Golden Globe®-nominated actor Harvey Keitel (The Piano, Reservoir
Dogs), Billy Miller (The Young and the Restless, Ringer) and Amber Clayton (Three Rivers, CSI: Miami)
star in the film, which premieres on Saturday, August 25, at 8:00PM ET/PT.
In the film, Alabama couple Gabe Watson (Miller) and his new bride, 26 year-old Tina Watson (Clayton),
married just 11 days, go on their dream honeymoon to scuba dive near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef,
where Tina drowns in what appears to be a freak accident. With authorities puzzled over Gabe’s
inconsistent statements about Tina’s death, her father Tommy Thomas (Keitel) begins to suspect Gabe
may have murdered his daughter. When an underwater photo of Tina lying motionless on the ocean floor
emerges, Australian authorities begin to suspect foul play, charge Gabe with his wife’s death and
extradite him to their country, where he eventually pleads guilty to manslaughter and serves 18 months in
prison. Alabama prosecutors, agreeing with Tommy’s suspicion Tina was murdered and Gabe had
possibly planned it before they left the state, decide to pursue murder charges in the United States. But,
due to lack of evidence, the judge dismisses the case – causing many to wonder what a jury would’ve
made of the evidence and leaving Tommy with more unanswered questions about what actually happened
to his daughter on her honeymoon.
Fatal Honeymoon is executive produced by David Parker (The Miracle Worker, Kath and Kimderella,
The Big Steal) and Michael Collier (Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory). Nadia Tass (Malcolm,
Matching Jack, The Miracle Worker) directed the screenplay by Mac Gudgeon (Ground Zero, Killing
Time, Last Ride) and Teena Booth (Lifetime’s The Pregnancy Project and Drew Peterson: Untouchable).
Fatal Honeymoon is also a theatrical release in Australia through Pinnacle Films.
ABOUT LIFETIME
Lifetime Television is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information
programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. The network
posted major growth in viewership among the key demographics in Second Quarter 2012 versus Second
Quarter 2011, posting a 13% jump among Women 18-49, +5% among Adults 18-49 and +1% in Women
25-54. Additionally, among Women 18-49, Lifetime marked the network’s strongest 2Q growth in 10
years. Lifetime Television®, LMN®, Lifetime Real Women® and Lifetime Digital™ are part of Lifetime
Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the
Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal.
CAST BIOS
Harvey Keitel -
To pigeonhole Harvey Keitel as a master of edgy degenerates and killers would have dismissed
the actor’s many successes with surly husbands, benign cops and intrepid detectives. His prolific
but slow-to-ignite career began with memorably unlikable supporting roles in Martin Scorsese
character studies Taxi Driver and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. An Academy Awardnominated
supporting role in Bugsy heralded a new beginning for Keitel, and he became a
favorite on the indie film scene of the 1990s through his association with Quentin Tarantino cult
classics Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. He also had several successes when he chose to tap
his inner soft side in Jane Campion’s The Piano, but by far, he was the go-to guy for potentially
explosive everymen, grizzled police force veterans and G-men in both subtle indies and gunblazing
big budget adventures alike.
Keitel was raised in Brooklyn, NY where he joined the Marines at age 16 and served overseas in
the Middle East. When he returned home, he began to pursue an interest in acting, training at the
famed Actors Studio before eventually landing stage roles in summer stock, repertory, and the
fringes of off-off Broadway and Community Theater. He made his off Broadway debut in Sam
Shepard’s Up to Thursday in 1965 and two years later began his association with Scorsese when
he answered a newspaper ad placed by the then-NYU student director. Scorsese cast him in
Who’s That Knocking at My Door?, which evolved from a student short to Scorsese’s wellreceived
feature debut. Keitel went on to make a strong impression with a breakout role as the
director’s alter ego in Mean Streets.
Keitel’s long list of additional films include Apocalypse Now, The Duellists, Fingers, Blue
Collar, Eagle's Wing, Deathwatch, The Border, Wise Guys, The Pick-Up Artist, The Last
Temptation of Christ, The Two Jakes, Thelma & Louise, Bugsy, Bad Lieutenant, Smoke,
Clockers, From Dusk Till Dawn, Cop Land, Three Seasons, Holy Smoke, U-571, Little Nicky,
The Grey Zone, Red Dragon, National Treasure, Be Cool, National Treasure: Book of Secrets,
Inglourious Basterds, Little Fockers, and most recently, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom,
which opened the 65th Cannes Film Festival this year. In 2006, Keitel starred in the highly
controversial docudrama miniseries The Path to 9/11 and in 2008, he starred in the ABC police
drama Life on Mars.
Keitel resides in New York, NY.
Billy Miller
Daytime Emmy® winner Billy Miller has been a consistent presence on screen since he began
his acting career following a dare from friends.
Miller was raised in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, Texas and subsequently attended the
University of Texas, Austin, where he received a degree from the school’s prestigious film
department. Shortly after graduation, he relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career behind the
scenes and landed a job in the mailroom of a prolific production/management company. While
Miller enjoyed his time there learning about the business, friends encouraged him to pursue a
career as an actor. Always up for a challenge and having a bit of the bug already from
experience in classes at UT and Austin’s State Theater, he enrolled in some more intense acting
classes and began to alter his path.
Shortly after, Miller landed representation and his first primetime job in an episode of the hit
CBS drama CSI: NY. His career began to flourish in September 2007 when he landed the role of
“Richie Novak” on ABC’s long running daytime drama All My Children. Three weeks after
completing his run on All My Children, Miller nabbed his second daytime contract as The Young
and the Restless’ “Billy Abbott” and quickly became a fan favorite as the show’s charming
playboy-turned romantic leading man. His peers also recognized his talents when he won the
Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2010, followed up by an additional
nomination in 2011.
As Miller continues his run on CBS’ top-rated daytime drama, he has simultaneously appeared in
some memorable guest roles including the creepy “Jimmy Earl Dean” on FX’s Justified and a
significant arc as a duplicitous “Charlie” in the CW’s Ringer.
Miller resides in Los Angeles, CA with his dog, Jones. He is an investor/partner in several
restaurants in the area. Miller supports Texas Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital, where he was
once a patient.
Amber Clayton
After undertaking studies in Psychology, Amber Clayton realized her true passion was acting. In
2005, she relocated from Melbourne, Australia to New York City to study at the Lee Strasberg
Theatre Institute where her credits included “Jean” in Skirmishes, “Viola” in Twelfth Night and
“Jessica” in This is Our Youth. Clayton also trained under Aleksi Vellis at The Film Space in
Melbourne. In 2009, she was cast as “Dr. Lisa Reed,” her first lead role in the CBS medical
drama Three Rivers, opposite Alex O'Loughlin. Clayton received industry attention for the
series, both locally and abroad. She also appeared in CSI: Miami in the lead guest role of “Kate
Pender.” Clayton’s additional credits include Rush, Race Relations and the shorts Max: A
Cautionary Tale, Ed Woods and Blackwood, which won the Alumni Award at the Columbia
University Film Festival. Clayton has two films due for release this year, the Australian thriller
Crawlspace, in which she plays the lead, under the direction of Justin Dix, and the ensemble
comedy Border Protection Squad, opposite Peter Hellier and Ed Kavalee.
Clayton resides in Melbourne, Australia.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Michael Collier (Executive Producer)
Michael Collier is the executive producer of the critically acclaimed CBS comedy series Two
and a Half Men starring Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer and created by TV Hall of Famer Chuck
Lorre. His other producing credits include Lorre’s pilot episodes of CBS comedies The Big
Bang Theory and Mike & Molly. Collier started his career in post production and rose to coproducer
while working with Lorre on Dharma & Greg starring Jenna Elfman and Thomas
Gibson. He has also sold many ideas in the television movie area and has been nominated for
both Emmy® and Producers Guild Awards.
David Parker (Executive Producer)
After a ten year career as a stills photographer, David Parker produced, wrote and photographed
the Australian classic movie Malcolm. With director Nadia Tass, they won eight Australian
Academy Awards for it. Parker was immediately snapped up by Francis Ford Coppola to shoot
the pilot for his Fox TV series The Outsiders. He continued in his various roles with films like
The Big Steal; Pure Luck, with Danny Glover and Martin Short; broadening out into television
commercials, most famously for the Michael Richards Vodaphone campaigns and the Australian
Football League’s “I’d Like to See That” with Ray Charles and Elton John. Parker alternates
working between Australia and the United States. The Miracle Worker, filmed by Parker for
ABC/DISNEY in 2001 was the highest rating film of the season. Recently, he won Best Picture
and Best Script at Milan International Film Festival for Matching Jack, which also won the 2010
Cannes Cinephile Best Film. In 2011, Parker co-produced and photographed Kath and
Kimderella, the feature film based on the highly successful TV series. He was a commissioner
of the Australian Film Commission in the mid-nineties and is at present a board member of Film
Victoria.
CREDITS
THE CAST
Gabe Watson BILLY MILLER
Tina Watson AMBER CLAYTON
Detective Gary Campbell GARY SWEET
And
Tommy Thomas HARVEY KEITEL
PRODUCTION
Directed by NADIA TASS
Written by MAC GUDGEON & TEENA BOOTH
Executive Producer DAVID PARKER
Executive Producer MICHAEL COLLIER
Producer DAVID PARKER
Editor GARY WOODYARD
Production Designer JON DOWDING
Director of Photography DAVID PARKER, ACS
Composer ROBERT KRAL
Line Producer RICHARD CLENDINNEN
Production Manager NICKI ELLIS
Casting Director CHRISTINE KING
Costume Designer MONICA O’BRIEN
Based on a True Story
We need more episode guide recap writers, article
writers, MS FrontPage and Web Expression users, graphics designers, and more, so
please email us
if you can help out! More volunteers always
needed! Thanks!
Back to the Main Reviews Page
Page updated 8/8/12
Back to the Main Primetime TV Page
    
|
