Colleges and universities have refused to take disciplinary action against
students threatening their Jewish classmates and calling for the genocide of
the Israeli people. So, why should we be shocked if they try to sweep a murder
under the rug? Indeed, transparency of campus crimes has been an issue for
years. It inspired Ann Rule’s first “story,” which in turn “inspired” the
latest Lifetime original movie. Given the multiple disclaimers, viewers should
consider Robin Hays’s Danger in the Dorm fiction rather than true crime
when it premieres Sunday on Lifetime.
Kathleen
Robets and her best friend Becky Swafford are incoming freshmen at a large
university that is absolutely not Oregon State—at least not anymore. Roberts is
the independent one and Swafford is the clingy one. Frankly, Roberts was
feeling like Swafford was a little too clingy for college, so she moved into a
single dorm room. As a result, Roberts is crushed with guilt when a masked
assailant murders Swafford in her room.
However,
neither the administration or the cops will use the “m” word. Instead, they
issue statements claiming it was an isolated incident. Then the unknown perp
attacks another coed, who survives, but is left coma-bound. At this point,
Roberts and her resident advisor Sarah, start taking matters into their own
hands. Defying corrupt Dean Carrigan and compliant Det. Harken, they start publicizing
the brutal truth of the attacks, while distributing whistles and pepper spray.
Wade Mullins, the frat boy wooing Roberts tries to be supportive, but his bro
Conor Miller is suspiciously creepy—maybe too obviously so.
Throughout
it all, Roberts is reluctant to return her mother Joanne’s calls, even though a
psycho is literally stalking her campus. “Fortunately,” she only lives one hour
away, so she can easily make unannounced visits.
Reality
TV “star” Bethenny Frankel as Joanne, the high-strung mom, kind of makes sense,
right? She might have been cast for her celebrity status, but she does the best
work in this TV movie. (Frankel already has a half-dozen dramatic credits and
originally pursued an acting career, so there you go, I guess.)
Amongst
the skulls full of mush, Michelle Creber most stands out, in the right way, as
RA Sarah. However, the killer’s over the top twitchiness insults viewers’
intelligence. In general, the cast does not inspire much confidence in the
younger generation.
Ann Rule fans might not recognize this title. It is drawn from her true
crime collection Last Dance, Last Chance, but it is not the novella about
the nefarious plastic surgeon that had the lion share of the page-count.
Instead, it is one of two shorter pieces chronicling the crimes of parolees,
who in retrospect, never should have been released. Denny Tuohmy definitely
poses a danger to Val Jane and her two young sons when he takes them hostage in
Gina Gershon’s 12 Desperate Hours, which premieres tomorrow night on
Lifetime.
Val
and Mark Jane have a nice suburban home, but money has been tight and their
marriage is maybe getting a little stale. Then one morning, after he already
left for work, she answers the door to find a sawed-off shotgun pointed in her
face. At first, Tuohmy wants to wait for Jane to come home, so he can carjack
him, but the worried mother convinces him to take her and her mom-SUV instead.
With
Mother Jane as his chauffeur, hostage, and reluctant accomplice, Tuohmy sets out
looking for the ex-girlfriend he is convinced still loves him. Their first
fateful stop will be her mother’s house, who tells Tuohmy exactly what she
thinks of him, in brutally honest terms. This could be a mistake.
Despite
the Ann Rule brand, 12 Desperate Hours is pretty standard TV-movie stuff,
starting with the flat, pedestrian direction from Gershon, the Showgirls thesp.
However, she has a bit of a fresh take on the familiar hostage scenario. While
Val never develops a full case of Stockholm syndrome, she had some sympathy for
her captor—enough to try to broker a peaceful solution to their drama.
