Sandra Brown's White Hot (2016) Shenae Grimes-Beech, Sean Faris, John Schneider, Ken Tremblett, Andrew Jenkins, Jeremy Guilbaut Movie Review

Sandra Brown's White Hot (2016)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Shenae Grimes-Beech in Sandra Brown's White Hot (2016)

Death by Design

Sayre Hoyle (Shenae Grimes-Beech - Christmas Incorporated) left her hometown in Louisiana more than a decade ago and has become a top interior designer in San Francisco. But an unexpected phone call sees her return home, as one of her brother's has died, and back into a hot bed of animosity thanks to her father, Huff (John Schneider - Love by the Book), who is still a bully and business owner who likes to get his own way. Whilst officially her brother died from an accidental gunshot wound whilst hunting, Sayre suspects otherwise as her brother wasn't a hunter and she sets about proving it with the help of Beck Merchant (Sean Faris - Christmas with Holly), a local attorney who works for Huff. But as Sayre digs in to her brother's death she not only has to deal with threats on her life but she untangles a complicated web of lies and cover ups.

"Sandra Brown's White Hot" is another murder mystery shown on Hallmark movies & mysteries but it isn't one of their comically lightweight ones which run to a typical formula and features a romantic friendship between a business owner and the guy down the street. Nope "Sandra Brown's White Hot" is a murder mystery which whilst not going for grit and realism is more focused on the drama rather than the lightweight fun. And in truth it achieves having a different feel, a more serious feel than you might have been anticipating whilst still squeezing in that obligatory side serving of romance.

But whilst "Sandra Brown's White Hot" has a different feel it is still filled with cliches as we have skeletons in people's closets, nefarious actions from family members, old murders, devious plans for revenge and so much more including someone manipulating another as well as cops who turn a blind eye to things. And all of that comes together to create a detailed but not too surprising murder mystery. Now to go in to detail would spoil the movie but I will say one of the most obvious aspects as we have the sins of the father not only coming back to haunt him but also affecting his entire family.

The thing is that whilst at times "Sandra Brown's White Hot" feels like it relies a little too much on genre standards it is still entertaining. It has a nice look and a nice looking cast who in truth play their parts well, although not necessarily memorably. In truth that is the biggest problem with this TV movie as it just isn't memorable, and whilst entertaining it isn't entertaining enough to make you feel like it needs to be watched again in case you missed anything.

What this all boils down to is that "Sandra Brown's White Hot" is an entertaining distraction for those who like the easy on the eye and mind nature of Hallmark movies. But whilst enjoyable it isn't enjoyable enough to make you feel like you need to watch it again.


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