Whispers and Lies (2008) (aka: The Secrets of Pine Cove) Melissa Joan Hart, Deanna Milligan, Susan Hogan, G. Patrick Currie, Damon Runyan Movie Review

Whispers and Lies (2008)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Melissa Joan Hart in Whispers and Lies (2008) (aka: The Secrets of Pine Cove)

Island of No Return

Jill Roperson (Melissa Joan Hart - Silencing Mary) and her cousin, Patti McMullen (Deanna Milligan - Family Sins), have taken a trip to a quaint town on an island to visit Kevin (Damon Runyan) who Patti has seen once or twice. But on their first evening there Patti ends up hurt when attacked by a mugger leading to Kevin taking her to doctor Croft (Susan Hogan - Murder on Pleasant Drive) whilst Jill returns to their cabin, where the handsome Chris (G. Patrick Currie), who she met at a gallery earlier, shows up. But when come the morning not only has Patti not returned but Jill finds a mysterious man in the cabin she goes to the local sheriff (Greg Michaels) who is no hope. As Jill tries to find her cousin it soon becomes apparent that the quaint town with its quirky characters holds a dark secret and one which may prevent her from leaving alive.

Spoiler Alert - this review of "Whispers and Lies", which also goes by the name of "The Secrets of Pine Cove", contains a spoiler so if you don't want to know you know what to do. Now "Whispers and Lies" is a movie which initially relies on the mystery of what has happened to Jill's cousin, Patti, who after a late night visit to the doctor seems to disappear. Where has she gone to and why? Well as we learn relatively quickly, this quaint town with its curious and eccentric characters has some very dark secrets with no one on the island ever getting old or ill. On top of that a birth mark which both Jill and her cousin have makes them both people of interest to those who are basically in charge on the island.

Unfortunately what "Whispers and Lies" delivers ends up routine at best and pretty forgettable as well as familiar as the whole set up of an isolated community with dark secrets and people who never die is something which has been done many times before most often in the horror genre. But "Whispers and Lies" is a made for TV movie which instead of trying to be scary aims for being mysterious, it wants us to wonder what is going on but struggles to do so as it doesn't create the right atmosphere or intensity to make this come alive with most of the scenes of danger ending up painfully routine or in some cases painfully ridiculous.

In the end "Whispers and Lies" is one of those movies which if you are a fan of Melissa Joan Hart might end up just about okay, not because of her acting as her character is as routine as everything else in the movie. But for those who are not fans of Melissa Joan Hart or Susan Hogan, who plays the town's doctor, there is a chance this will disappoint due to it being frankly generic.

What this all boils down to is that "Whispers and Lies" is for me just about watch-able but then I am a fan of Melissa Joan Hart and will admit that if it wasn't for her I might have rated it lower.


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