Main cast: Brenda Song (Jennifer Allen Williams), Mike Vogel (Russell Williams), Dennis Haysbert (Detective Frank Page), and Ashley Scott (Nurse Masters)
Director: Peter Sullivan
When Secret Obsession opens, our heroine Jennifer Williams is fleeing for her life – it is night, and of course it is raining heavily – when she is hit by a white van. Fortunately, she recovers in a hospital, but with amnesia and her legs injured. A handsome man shows up claiming to be her husband Russell. He is kind, supportive, and from all appearances a gorgeous Ken doll with permanent neatly groomed stubble. Naturally, she soon discovers that there is something off about him. Detective Frank Page thinks so too, believing that Russell may have something to do with her “accident” in the first place.
Yes, this one sounds like any random movie on Lifetime and that’s what it is. It boasts plenty of barely adequate acting that reminds viewers that what they are watching is definitely not real, the expected lack of chemistry between the leads, and laughable efforts at suspense. The latter is especially awful here. The villain tries ineptly to cover their tracks in some instances, but conveniently leaves behind evidence of their misdeeds for the detective to stumble upon. The heroine is given a lot of things to do here, to prove that she is a strong woman despite being stuck with crutches throughout the bulk of the film, but seriously. She uses a lighter to burn through the ropes binding her, but the villain can’t smell anything when he drops by to check whether she’s still all tied up? My favorite is how the heroine manages to get out of the house on her own, but instead of running away she pauses to check the wifi connection on the phone. The whole thing seems to be scripted by someone who, deep inside, really wants to write Looney Tunes episodes.
Still, I am giving this one an extra oogie because I am shallow: Mike Vogel looks really nice without his shirt on, and his Russell Williams may just actually be a sexy psycho type had the script been better. Other than seeing Mr Vogel flash his dinner plate-sized nipples on screen, there is really no point in watching this thing.
