It is the story of a middle-aged couple who have a marriage that lasts several years of love and giving. Their lives seem to be perfect, but the wife is really surprised when she discovers that her husband is a serial killer.
Veteran actors Allen, Lapaglia and Stephen Lang add a level of gravitas that sells the material, countering the matter-of-fact direction from Peter Askin that lends the air of a made-for-TV movie. But they can do only so much with a story this listless.
In his approach to bringing his own story to the screen, the author gave no consideration for actual performance or humor, valuing his language over all else.
Mr. King's script offers a wealth of behavioral details, notably in the conversations between Bob and Darcy, which put a deliciously perverse twist on conjugal familiarity.
Suspenseful and compelling with great camera work and fine performances by Joan Allen and Anthony LaPaglia, despite an ending that feels rushed and contrived.
The resulting domestic tension is rife with darkly comedic and dramatic possibilities that were better exploited on the printed page, where King was able to more fully delineate his heroine's tortured thought process.
