“I Can Assure You This Has Nothing to Do with a Crime of Fashion.”
When I saw who was starring in Hallmark’s newest mystery movie franchise, I was very excited since I was familiar with both of the leads. It was fun watching them in Killer Clutch, the first Crimes of Fashion Mystery.
Lauren Elliott (Brooke D’Orsay) is a psychologist who specializes in working with the fashion industry. After her best friend, Charlotte (Paloma Coquant) brings her in to help with a designer, Lauren finds herself hired to help out with fashion week – in Paris. She’s never been, so she is excited.
However, the first fashion show Lauren works ends in tragedy when Charlotte discovers a dead body. Worse yet, Charlotte also becomes the prime suspect. Lauren knows that her friend didn’t do it, so she starts investigating herself, much to the annoyance of Inspector AndrĂ© Duvreuil (Gilles Marini). Can Lauren prove her friend innocent?
I was a huge Royal Pains fan, and I loved Brooke’s character on that show, so it was fantastic to see her in something else. I’ll admit I only knew Gilles Marini from his time on Dancing with the Stars, so I was happy to see him acting in something. Both of them did a great job of bringing their characters to life. You could feel the chemistry between them, and his slow thawing to her character was perfectly played.
The rest of the cast was good, as well. However, my biggest issue with this movie did come into play with the rest of the cast. This is a movie set in Paris, so most of the actors have French accents, which makes sense. That meant you really had to concentrate to understand some of them. Also, I’m not sure if some of the actors that seemed a little stiff were because of my issue with the accents, because of how they chose to play the character, or something else. I’ll choose to blame myself for it.
The mystery was good. We got some nice twists, and plenty of complications along the way to the climax. Unfortunately, the climax was weaker than it could have been. The ending made sense, which is always nice.
I do have to call out their use of my least favorite storytelling technique, however. I will never understand why writers seem to think they need to start with a suspenseful scene from the climax and then flashback to how the story begins. Sorry, it’s just lazy.
I’m not that into fashion, but I did mostly enjoy the styles. There were one or two that were over the top, but they were supposed to be. I also enjoyed the locations for the movie, which was filmed at least partially in Paris.
If Hallmark decides to go forward with more Crimes of Fashion, I will definitely be back to see where the characters go from here. If you are a fan of their mystery movies, you’ll be glad you watched Killer Clutch.
I think the issue with the heavy accents is across the board. It really was difficult to understand. I turned on captions, which did help. I might watch it again. I enjoyed it the first time, but I think I'll enjoy it even more the second time. Funny you mention the climax being weaker than it could have been because I actually thought it was strong. I was on the edge of my seat. And I was completely shocked when the killer was revealed! About the opening flashback scene - I rolled my eyes at that. It's gotten old and it isn't necessary. I liked the movie overall, though, and I too will be back for more (if they ever decide to stop airing new mysteries and focus more on further developing current ones).
ReplyDeleteWhen I say the issue with the heavy accents is across the board, I mean that I've seen lots of people comment on the same thing. :)
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