Love to Kill

Though competently made and surprisingly well acted, Love to Kill ultimately comes off as a tedious, almost egregiously familiar direct-to-video thriller that generally feels like the cinematic equivalent of background music (ie it’s watchable yet rarely engaging). The movie stars Blanchard Ryan as Frances Sweete, a money-hungry sociopath who has evidently made a pretty good living marrying wealthy older men and knocking them off a few months later. Frances’ latest target, a fledgling politician named Nicholas Landon (Rick Ravanello), falls hook, line, and sinker for the black widow’s well-honed act, though Nicholas’ loyal assistant (Sonja Bennett’s Theresa) eventually comes to suspect something’s not quite right with her boss’ new beau. The utterly routine nature of Love to Kill‘s premise ensures that there are few surprises throughout its mercifully brisk running time, with the strong performances generally standing as the one bright spot within the proceedings. Ravanello’s undeniably bland performance is offset by both Ryan and Bennett’s ingratiating work, as the actresses, particularly the former, prove fairly adept at freeing their respective characters from the constraints of their two-dimensional origins. And while the film does improve slightly once Nicholas starts to investigate Frances’ sordid past, Love to Kill is precisely the sort of run-of-the-mill small-screen endeavor one expects to see on Lifetime in the middle of the afternoon.

*1/2 out of ****