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Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Movie Review: The Art of the Kill - A Matchmaker Mystery

 

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: More of Nick in a great mystery movie
Cons: Hallmark cheese
The Bottom Line:
Death at museum
With complicated motives
Enjoyable film



“Here We Go Again, Angie’s One True Love – a Murder Mystery”

I must admit that I lose track of how many movies we’ve gotten in certain of Hallmark’s Mystery Movie franchises.  For example, I was surprised to find that The Art of the Kill was only our third visit with the Matchmaker Mysteries gang.  It was fantastic to revisit them again.

This time the mystery starts with Nick (Bruce Boxleitner).  A friend has called in a favor and asked that the retired detective investigate a series of petty thefts happening at the Oswald Museum.  Angie (Danica McKellar) is meeting her dad there for lunch and maybe an interview or two before she has to get back to taping her matchmaking show.  Their first stop is Dr. Jennings, who was the first person to report an item stolen.  However, they find him dead on the floor of his office.

With Kyle (Victor Webster) on the case, Angie can’t help but poke around.  The duo quickly learn that Jennings was estranged from his sister and was heavily involved in a new exhibit opening in just a couple of days.  Could any of these things lead to his murder?  Or had he learned something about the theft?

I’ve been a fan of Bruce Boxleitner for a number of years, so I was thrilled to see him get a larger role in this movie.  Yes, Angie and Kyle are still the main characters, but Nick has more scenes and is much more involved in what is going on as a result.

The mystery is strong as always.  There are multiple motives and multiple suspects, which really helped keep me guessing until we reached the end.  Yet when we get there, everything is logical.

This movie seems to have a bit more of the Hallmark cheese factor, coming from the writing at times and the acting at others.  Still, as long as you know that going into the movie, you’ll be fine.

The Art of the Kill proves to be a light, entertaining mystery movie.  If that is what you are looking for, you’ll definitely enjoy watching it.

2 comments:

  1. I've enjoyed this series and these are two of my favorite Hallmark actors so I'm willing to overlook the cheese. I have this recorded but haven't watched it yet but I'm really looking forward to it!

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  2. This is on my list for when my husband goes fishing later his month. He's not a fan of Hallmark mysteries, and his comments are a bit annoying when he does watch them with me.

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