Lethal Vows (1999) Reviews

• Up to the usual high standard of t.v. movies

  Castor-111999-10-14

  I've noticed for a long time, now, that I'm seldom disappointed by a t.v. movie - the reverse is true for most of the "theatre" movies available on cable right now...I wonder if it's because pay-per view, and satellite dish companies are snapping up the good "theatre" stuff leaving us cable viewers with the rubbish?...small wonder then that my local cable company is resorting to "attack" ads on satellite dish t.v, which ads are having the effect of turning me on to dish my local cable co! Anyway, "Lethal Vows" is a good solid suspense yarn, with believable situations, attractive characters (even the villain!)and natural-sounding dialogue. It's based on a true story, as so many of these t.v. movies are, truth being more entertaining than fiction, telling the story of a long divorced ex-wife, coming to suspect that her (still-friendly)former spouse, and father of her two daughters, is guilty of slowly poisoning her, and his present wife who is currently displaying the same symptoms that our heroine experienced during her marriage to the man - the effects of such poisoning lingering to the time-set of the movie, 14 years after the divorce.. There is no doubt of the villain, from the get-go - the charming John Ritter, who is as pleasant a madman, as he is in his usual role of good guy. The many women in the movie, are good to look upon -many familiar faces which cause my irritation at IMB's lack of a cast-list -with the minor characters also being up to snuff. Altogether, an absorbing movie.

• Not bad for a TV movie

  novella2212005-07-30

  In all honesty I really liked this film, so much that i've seen it about 6 times. Yes, it's a cheap TV movie but it has good acting and a great storyline which should be as it is a true story. It's a sad, but very interesting story and never does it get boring. John Ritter(RIP) is great at playing the sleazy baddie. Not only is this film interesting but it's sure to teach you a few things about 'selenium' which is the 'killer' in this movie. A good film but I hope no viewers get any ideas in such a discreet way of killing another. Just watch it when it's next on and you will know what i'm going on about. A pure TV movie which I think everyone should watch!

• Clever

  llihilloh2000-12-28

  This is the kind of movie that, in my opinion, is good from start to finish. It is cleverly put together and with the help of a talented group of actors, this is one of the better TV movies I have seen. The plot is very unusual and interesting. One of the things that really struck me is that the crew must have done a lot of research in order for the story to be accurate. (I'm referring to the medication side effects.) A lot of hard work and excellent writing went into this production. The actors perform exceptionally well. Especially John Ritter, who plays the evil David Farris. Marg Helgenberger comes very close to being as good as Ritter but there's no stopping him. Helgenberger plays the part of Ellen Farris particularly good also. The rest of the cast adds their two cents to make this not so typical family shine. The writing, cast, and idea overall is phenomenal. With the luck that CBS will decide to air this again, be prepared because you never know who you may be dealing with.

• Lethal Vows--quite lethal!

  catherinerx2005-04-19

  I thought John Ritter was great in this. Unfortunately, I did not see this movie until after Ritter's death but I think he would have had a career as a bad guy! Hard to believe but the lovable "Jack Tripper" can really look evil! Marg Helgenberger looks older than she does in CSI but that is because she is not made up to look like a hooker as she often does now. She was matronly and quite believable as the woman who, 14 years after her divorce, comes to suspect her friendly ex of some dastardly deeds. It was totally unbelievable, though, that the police would have believed her so quickly and acted on her information. I tried to find a book on this subject since it was based on a "true story" but was unable to find one. It would interesting to see how the events really unfolded.

• Murder Most Strange

  sol-kay2008-01-04

  **SPOILERS** It wasn't enough that Dr. David Farris', John Ritter, first wife Ellen, Marg Helgenberger,ended up in the hospital with what later turned to be an acute case of selenium/cyanide poisoning his second wife Lorraine,Megan Gallagher,of some 14 years now came down with the very same symptoms. These strange events had the now ex-wife Ellen suspect that not only was she poisoned by her then husband David but that he pulled the same dastardly deed on Lorraine as well. Lorraine turned out not to be as lucky as Ellen dying from so-called "natural causes" at the ripe young age of 38. David acting the part of the grieving husband and father of his and Lorraine 12 year-old son Graham, Miko Hughes, put on an act that would fool everyone but for some strange reason Ellen didn't fall for it. The similarities of her and Lorraine's illness were just too convenient, for the grieving David Fariss, to be just mare coincidences. They were acts of attempted, and in the case of Lorraine, and first degree murder. The film "Lethal Vows" has you wondering if David Ferris is either innocent or just so psychotic and pathological that he's actually a murderer but convinced himself, in his own sick mind, that he isn't. Ferris it turned out is a man with absolutely no conscience at all and even when confronted with the truth of his actions he just lies his way out as if he's been accused of just stealing cookies out of the cookie jar. What was really shocking about David Ferris' actions in the movie is just how cold-blooded selfish and unfeeling they were. All Ferris wanted out of life was getting whatever struck his fancy like a new and younger wife every ten or so years and discarding the old model, like Ellen & Lorraine, as if she were a broken down jalopy. In fact after Lorrine was dispatched, or murdered, Ferris didn't waste any time getting married again to young pretty and rich Catherine Moray,Kim Huffman. Based on a true story, the murder by poison Richard Overton case, the movie would be almost impossible to believe if it didn't really happen. Farris covers all the bases and destroys all the evidence that can connect him to his crimes but as usual, this in the very early days of the internet, he's a bit unfamiliar with the new technology of hard drives and computer memory systems. Erasing the evidence from his computer, in how to murder his wives, just didn't work with a permanent record still left on his computer hard-drive. Maybe if he destroyed the whole thing, his computer, he may well have gotten away with it. Going so far as to invest $5,000.00 in an almost worthless gold mine Ferris had excess to the both selenium and cyanide that was used to process the gold ore. It was those two poisonous elements that he used to do in both of his wives! Wife # one, Ellen, getting out of his marriage with her and wife # two, Lorraine, by getting her out of his and her life all together. In the end the wheels of justice caught up with Feriss who in a last desperate attempt, after poisoning his lawyer who wouldn't go along with his insane scheme, tried to implicate the local police in his second wife's, Lorraine, murder! Lorraine having been elected to the town council was supposed to have the goods, whatever they were, on the police and was murdered by them, so the crazed Fariss told a shocked courtroom, to shut her up! It was a good try on Fariss' part but by then he just about plain ran out of tricks as everyone was finally on to him even his up until them loyal and naive son Graham. A heart-broken Graham left his father hanging as he pleaded for his support at the prisons visitors glass partition booth. Feriss should have thought about Graham's feelings before he poisoned his mother and, with him now being sent away for life, left him an orphan.