I was up late one night, which is normal for me if I’m not working, and I was looking for something to watch on tv. I tend to have the tv on in the background when I’m doing other things because I can’t stand total silence. When I was flipping through the channels, I found a movie that was just started called Widow’s Kiss. I had never heard of it before and had no idea what it was about, but I decided to leave it on. It turned out to be quite good and I’m glad I watched it.

PLOT

Sean Sager woke up from a nightmare about his mother’s death. She had been killed in a car accident. Sean’s father, Justin, had been driving. He survived the accident. Sean and Justin didn’t have the best relationship. Sean was still very upset about his mother’s death. Justin wanted his son to go to Ridley College and become a lawyer like he had. Sean wanted to go to a different college and study music. He played the saxophone. He was close to his grandmother, Edith, and she supported his interest in music. She blamed Justin for her daughter’s death.

Vivian Fairchild was a widow. Her husband hadn’t been dead very long. She went to see Justin to have a new will made up. She was an attractive woman and he seemed very interested in her. Once he finished her new will, he asked her out. Sean wasn’t too happy to hear that his dad was going out with another woman so soon after his mother’s death. Shortly after their first date, Justin and Vivian eloped. Justin didn’t bother saying anything to Sean about it until after the marriage. Justin called him to share the news and didn’t seem to understand why Sean was upset. Sean and Vivian hadn’t even met yet.

Sean was hostile toward Vivian when she and his father returned home. Paul Fairchild, her son was living with Vivian and he was also moving in. He tried to make friends with Sean, but Sean wanted nothing to do with him either. Paul was going to Ridley College and was in a fraternity. Justin wanted the two to become friends. Justin was upset with Sean for not being nice and welcoming to Vivian and Paul.

Sean started to go out with his friends more so he wasn’t at home around Vivian. He was very hurt that his father got remarried at all, and the way it was done just made it worse. One night, Justin and Vivian were having an evening alone and he had a heart attack. He was taken to the hospital but he didn’t survive. Vivian tried to comfort Sean, but he wanted no part of her. She started to do things around the house. She had a huge party right after Justin’s death that really upset Sean. She claimed that Justin had changed his will and left her everything.

Sean was suspicious of his father’s death and believed that Vivian had some how caused it. He contacted a private investigator, Eddie Costello, to investigate Vivian and Justin’s death. Eddie got the captain of the local police force, Lavanda Harrison involved. Vivian and Paul went to see the lawyer about Justin’s will and were very disappointed by what they were told. Vivian said some things that indicated that this had happened before. Sean’s ex-girlfriend Kelly returned from a trip and he became involved with her again. Vivian started to push Sean to join the fraternity that Paul was in, saying that Justin would have wanted it. One night when Sean came home, he saw something very disturbing, but he didn’t say anything to Vivian. He started to go through her things and he found that she had syringes. What were Vivian and Paul up to? Was Justin’s death murder?

CAST

Mackenzie Astin - Sean Sager
Beverly D’Angelo - Vivian Fairchild
Bruce Davidson - Justin Sager
Dennis Haysbert - Eddie Costello
Anna Maria Horsford - Captain Lavanda Harrison
Barbra Rush - Edith Fitzpatrick
Michael Woolson - Paul Fairchild
Leslie Horn - Kelly Givens

Peter Foldy - Director

Widow’s Kiss was made in 1994. It was 103 minutes long and rated R. I saw it on television, so it was edited. I think they may have been some nudity in the R-rated version. I think I noticed once or twice that a swear word had been edited out. This is not a movie for children to see.

I enjoyed Widow’s Kiss. I hadn’t heard of it before, so when I decided to start watching it I had no idea what it was about. Right at first it seemed to be a bit slow, but that turned out to be the nightmare. Once the movie got started, it did keep my interest, though a few of the scenes in the beginning did drag a bit. A few of those scenes were a little boring, but the movie got more interesting after Vivian and Justin met and started to date. The movie did have a few flaws and I have seen better, but it was entertaining.

Widow’s Kiss was a suspenseful movie at times. It was meant to be a thriller, and for the most part, it succeeded, though I have seen much better thriller movies. Several times I had no idea what would happen next. I was surprised by a few different things that happened. One was down right shocking at first, but later when I thought about it, it did make sense. I had sort of suspected something before that incident, but I hadn’t suspected exactly what happened. Something else was revealed near the end of the movie that I never suspected at all, though it did make sense too. Some of the things that happened in the movie were predictable, but I still enjoyed the movie. This wasn’t the most suspenseful movie I have ever seen, but there was enough to make the movie interesting.

There was a little bit of mystery in Widow’s Kiss related to what exactly Vivian was up to. Had some kind of foul play caused Justin’s death? Did Vivian have something to do with it? Sean was suspicious of his father’s death right from the start, but others wouldn’t listen to him because Justin had a heart attack. Sean also wondered about Vivian’s past. The mystery in the movie wasn’t that complicated, and at least one or two things related to it were obvious, but some other things were surprising. People who want to see a movie with a complicated, confusing mystery to figure out shouldn’t see this movie.

There was some romance provided by the relationship between Justin and Vivian in Widow’s Kiss. They met and started to date right away. After just a few dates, there were married. Their relationship developed quickly, and not much of that was actually shown in the movie. Just enough of their relationship before they got married was shown to illustrate that they were interested in each other. Sean started up his relationship with his ex-girlfriend again once she returned to town, so that added a little more romance to the movie. Not much of their relationship was shown though. The fact that they had been involved before Kelly left town was brought up near the beginning of the movie. Sean was still upset about the fact that she had left. They did end up seeing each other a few times and then the next thing I knew they were in bed having sex.

There were some sex scenes in Widow’s Kiss. Justin and Vivian had a short love scene before he had his heart attack, but they weren’t having sex when that happened. Later in the movie, Sean and Kelly jumped into bed. That scene was longer. There was some skin shown, but no actual nudity since I saw the movie on television. I think there was nudity in the R-rated version of the movie. There was another short sex scene in the movie. The people involved were just embracing and kissing, but it was clear what they were getting ready to do. People who are offended by these types of scenes should not see this movie.

There was some violence and a little bit of action in Widow’s Kiss. There was just a scene or two that contained some violence, so this really wasn’t a violent movie. The scenes didn’t seem that bad to me, but they could have been more violent in the R-rated version. Most of the action took place in the same scene or two as the violence, so this wasn’t an action packed movie either. People who want to see a movie with explosions and car chases should look for something else. People who don’t like to see any sort of violence in movies shouldn’t watch this movie.

The acting in Widow’s Kiss was good. I was really impressed with Beverly D’Angelo. Vivian was different from any other role I’ve seen her play before. Vivian was a seductress who was plotting something. She was calculating. This was a more serious, dramatic role and her character was more sexual. When I think of D’Angelo, I think of Ellen, the role she played in the Vacation movies. Vivian was very different from Ellen. I don’t remember ever seeing her in another serious movie.

Mackenzie Astin was also good in Widow’s Kiss as Sean. I haven’t seen him in any other movies, but I do remember him playing Andy on the television show The Facts of Life in the 1980s. He was fairly young when he was on that show. The show went off the air in 1988, and he was still rather young then. This movie was made only six years later. He did look a lot older. It was strange to see him in the sex scene, especially since I had seen an episode of The Facts of Life earlier that day. I think he was about twelve in that episode.

Anna Maria Horsford also use to be on a television show from the 1980s. She was on Amen, playing Thelma. Her character in Widow’s Kiss was very different from Thelma. Lavanda had a career and was more in control of her life. Horsford was good in the role. I’ve also seen her in a few other movies. She showed up briefly in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider as Alex Cross’s sister. She was also in Dear God. Bruce Davidson wasn’t in much of Widow’s Kiss, but he was good in his scenes. I know I have seen him in some other movies, but I can’t remember what right now. Dennis Haysbert did a good job as Eddie the private investigator. The other actors were also good, but nothing about their performances really stood out.

CHARACTER

Sean Sager - He was still grieving over his mother’s death. He was going to start college. He wanted to study music, but his father wanted him to become a lawyer. Sean ended up going to his father’s old college. Sean didn’t have the best relationship with his dad. He was very unhappy when he found out that his dad started to date someone. Sean was upset when his dad quickly married the woman. Sean refused to be nice to his step mother and step brother. He could be stubborn and determined at times.

Justin Sager - Sean’s father. Justin had been driving when he got in the accident that killed his wife. He wanted his son to become a lawyer and forget about music. Justin though that was foolish. He was a lawyer and worked a lot. He was attracted to a new client right away and started to date her. He married her right away, and wanted Sean to accept the marriage. Justin got mad when Sean was upset about the marriage. Justin didn’t seem to understand Sean’s feelings about the situation. Justin was also stubborn.

Vivian Fairchild - She was a widow that just moved to the area with her son. Vivian went to Justin to have a new will drawn up. She seemed to be interested in him and set out to get him. She acted like she understood Sean being upset after the marriage. She was seductive and calculating. She was plotting something. She was one way around Justin and another at other times. She acted like she was devastated when Justin died, but soon after she was having a huge party. She started to push Sean to do things, saying that Justin would have wanted it.

Paul Fairchild - Vivian’s son. He tried to become friends with Sean. Paul claimed that he wasn’t happy about the marriage either, but he and Vivian seemed to be planing something. He was acting like Sean’s friend after Justin’s death. Paul tried to get Sean to join a fraternity.

Edith Fitzpatrick - Sean’s grandmother and Justin’s mother-in-law. Edith blamed Justin for her daughter’s death. She wasn’t thrilled about the marriage either. She supported Sean’s interest in music.

Eddie Costello - He was a private investigator. Sean convinced him that there was something fishy about Justin’s death and Eddie started investigating. He wanted to help Sean.

I did enjoy Widow’s Kiss. It is worth watching if you like thrillers or are a fan of Beverly D’Angelo.





Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age