Do You Know Me? (2009) starring Rachelle Lefevre, Jeremy London, Ted Whittall, Lynda Boyd, Victoria Duffield, Adrien Dorval, Dean Wray directed by Penelope Buitenhuis Movie Review

Do You Know Me? (2009)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Rachelle Lefevre in Do You Know Me? (2009)

Face on a Milk Carton

Having returned home following graduation Elsa Carter (Rachelle Lefevre - Picking Up & Dropping Off) hopes of one day making it as a big time journalist, following in the footsteps of her father except he seems happier if she kept a low profile in a small town rag. But when one drunken night with her boyfriend Chris (Nic Rhind) and a friend they spot a photo fit picture on a milk carton of a missing child which looks just like Elsa it not only leads to her to questioning whether her mum and dad are really her parents but also a whole lot of trouble when the truth starts to come out.

I like movies which work the idea of a grown up seeing a picture on a website or milk carton which makes them question who they are. It is a concept which has a lot of possibilities to deliver an exciting thriller where the person in question discovers things which turn their life upside down whilst shattering happy memories. Unfortunately when it comes to "Do You Know Me?" what happens is so convoluted that it becomes laughable.

Jeremy London in Do You Know Me? (2009)

Now in truth I feared that "Do You Know Me?" was going to be laughable before it even started as whilst I am a fan of TV movies rarely do they do this sort of thriller well. The trouble is that there is no depth, no creativity, no crafting as everything is served up on the proverbial plate. When we meet characters they all act suspiciously in a cliche manner, the story hurtles to the next bit with out spending enough time developing the scene it was working on and worst of all people do a lot of daft things. Yes all of which makes "Do You Know Me?" entertaining on a simple level but at the same time weak for those who need more than just the basics.

What this means is that like so many TV movies "Do You Know Me?" relies heavily on the appeal of its cast to make it entertaining. So we have Rachelle Lefevre as Elsa and she is easy on the eye and does a solid if forgettable job of playing Elsa as she finds her life turned upside down whilst Jeremy London is exactly the same as DEA agent Jake, easy on the eye. But their characters are expectedly poorly written which is the case throughout and so shortly after the movie is over you have forgotten them.

What this all boils down to is that "Do You Know Me?" is nothing special and in truth is more than a little weak even by TV movie standards. But it does have an appealing cast and whilst heavily contrived it keeps things moving so quickly that if all you are looking for is an easy to watch thriller it should work.


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