Perfect Sisters Reviews

'Perfect Sisters' is similar to a Lifetime movie, but not the secretly-entertaining kind. More like the trashy and poorly-made Lifetime movies that make you feel plenty ashamed for watching, but fail to deliver on the second half of the phrase "guilty pleasure". It's based on a true story (naturally); and I'm not really sure what the filmmakers were thinking when they decided to turn this tragic event (the 2003 murder of Brampton, Ontario resident Linda Andersen by her own daughters) into a movie.

Was I supposed to feel sorry for these horrid, sociopathic girls? It's sad that they suffered abuse by their stepfather(s?), but that's no excuse for DROWNING. THEIR. MOTHER. IN. THE. BATHTUB (in the movie, their "drunken" mother -- as portrayed by Mira Sorvino -- comes across as more pathetic than anything else). The sisters in 'Perfect Sisters' show no remorse for their actions; I didn't feel bad for them in the least after their crime was finally uncovered.

And what was the deal with the ridiculous fantasy sequences, where the pink and sparkly "vision" of a woman (also played by Sorvino) kept appearing to talk to the girls as they gazed back at her in wonder; I guess they were supposed to be envisioning their ideal mom? Those scenes were not only stupid (the sisters simultaneously had the *same* fantasy? really?), they very much detracted from the rest of the movie... which was already bad to begin with.

Based on those sequences, and especially on the film's laughably dramatic final scene (where the sisters are shown screaming and wailing as they're pulled apart from one another in the courthouse after they receive their so-called sentence), it seemed like the filmmakers actually *were* aiming for a sympathetic viewpoint toward the two girls. And if that's the case, all I can say is EPIC FAIL. (2/10)

It's a Weak attempt from producer turn director Stanley M. Brooks in his directorial debut. He tries to make black comedy instead he made "Dark teen fantasy- comedy-thriller-drama" salad. The script is equally bad with some weak narration from Breslin at the start. It jumps all over the place from scenes you'd expect to see in 'Gilmore Girls' through to some very heavy scenes (which are handled very badly). The transition of their emotions from fear to anxiety to giddiness had no natural flow. Not even for a crazy person. Nothing makes sense, the girls are supposedly very smart with excellent grades and have learned four languages (one of which they created themselves) and yet throughout the movie they do some of the most incredibly stupid things you could possibly imagine.

What really got me though was that at the end of the movie I had to remind myself that this was based one a true story, which is absolutely insane.it pretty much takes a sociopath to murder their own mother. It was always about money and buying the things they wanted. Plain and simple. The fact that they are making this movie really ticks me off. The moral being? What? That after being caught you can spend four short years in juvi and then get on with your life while your mother no longer can? Sheesh.