Running from the Enemy
Beth Williamson (Donna Mills - My Name Is Kate) has tolerated her husband, Tom's (Corbin Bernsen - Heart of a Hero), physical abuse for years and even defends him in front of her family who know full well what he has been doing. But one day Beth has enough and with their daughter leaves, finding safety in a shelter for women who have suffered domestic abuse. It is there that she meets Kaye (Robin Givens - Boomerang) who has been moving from one shelter to another in an attempt to keep away from her violent husband. But when Kaye's husband kills her in broad daylight Beth finds herself put in to protective custody as she agrees to give evidence. The question is what will happen when the protective custody ends and Tom comes looking for her again.
"Dangerous Intentions" initially plays out like a typical made for TV movie about an abused woman where she puts up with the domestic abuse until eventually it gets too much and first the police are involved and then she ends up living in a shelter for abused women. The difference is that where in most movies about domestic abuse the violence is suggested in "Dangerous Intentions" it doesn't and so we not only see Tom's violent outburts but we see the result of what he does to Beth. It make "Dangerous Intentions" a lot more hard hitting than most of these made for TV movies about abused women.
But "Dangerous Intentions" also varies the storyline as it brings in the character of Kaye, another abused wife who ends up being killed by her violent husband leading to a court case. Whilst this is going on we also see the psychotic side of Tom as he turns stalker, making threatening calls to Beth and vowing to make her suffer. This side turns "Dangerous Intentions" into more than just a drama about an abused woman and into one where her psychotic husband becomes increasingly dangerous and truth be told unhinged. In fairness this does make it at times feel a little extreme with some scenes which border on being over the top including one which involves a house being set on fire.
Whether or not "Dangerous Intentions" ends up feeling extreme or not the performances are good throughout especially from Donna Mills who does a nice job, if they are the right words, of playing an abused wife whilst Corbin Bernsen is terrifying as Tom. In fact whether or not you find it over the top or not the psychotic breakdown of Tom after he is arrested the first time is attention grabbing thanks to Bernsen's commitment to the character.
What this all boils down to is that "Dangerous Intentions" starts off as a typical drama about domestic abuse but evolves in to something much more dramatic and thriller like. For some it will be powerful for others it will be over the top but which ever it certainly grabs your attention.
