This film might be called Meet the Fockers from Hell. The clear intent was for a dark comedy. But there was too much "dark" ambience and too little comedy.
Jessica and her boyfriend Sam travel from the big city to the country farm of her aunt and uncle in order to deliver a $250,000 cashiers check from the estate of Jessica's late mother. The film's premise was that the real aunt and uncle have been murdered by two career criminals who impersonate Aunt Susan and Uncle Lawrence and plan to collect the inheritance.
Unfortunately, the premise was never believable. Both Jessica and Sam should have sensed that the two people were imposters. Even if Jessica's memory was fuzzy on what her aunt and uncle looked like, the behavior they exhibited was completely phony, which should have alerted them to the scam. One of the tipoffs was when Lawrence indicated the couple was retired when it was readily apparent that the large farm required full-time maintenance.
Stephen King is adept at this kind of over-the-top comedy-horror narrative. But the scenes of this film dragged interminably, and there were too many unpleasant moments that stretched credibility, such as the killing of the poor country sheriff. And another major plot hole was that the sheriff, who clearly knew all of the residents in his small community, should have recognized that the man claiming to be Lawrence Freeman was a fraud.
In Jessica, there was a thoughtful character who was still grieving the loss of her mother. She also had strong family values which motivated her to carry out the wishes of her mom by hand-delivering the check. Sadly, she was the only memorable character in this film. There was not a single turkey in residence on the farm, but it turned out that the real turkey was the film itself.
Jessica and her boyfriend Sam travel from the big city to the country farm of her aunt and uncle in order to deliver a $250,000 cashiers check from the estate of Jessica's late mother. The film's premise was that the real aunt and uncle have been murdered by two career criminals who impersonate Aunt Susan and Uncle Lawrence and plan to collect the inheritance.
Unfortunately, the premise was never believable. Both Jessica and Sam should have sensed that the two people were imposters. Even if Jessica's memory was fuzzy on what her aunt and uncle looked like, the behavior they exhibited was completely phony, which should have alerted them to the scam. One of the tipoffs was when Lawrence indicated the couple was retired when it was readily apparent that the large farm required full-time maintenance.
Stephen King is adept at this kind of over-the-top comedy-horror narrative. But the scenes of this film dragged interminably, and there were too many unpleasant moments that stretched credibility, such as the killing of the poor country sheriff. And another major plot hole was that the sheriff, who clearly knew all of the residents in his small community, should have recognized that the man claiming to be Lawrence Freeman was a fraud.
In Jessica, there was a thoughtful character who was still grieving the loss of her mother. She also had strong family values which motivated her to carry out the wishes of her mom by hand-delivering the check. Sadly, she was the only memorable character in this film. There was not a single turkey in residence on the farm, but it turned out that the real turkey was the film itself.