A LIFETIME OF LIES/ SANDRA BROWN’S WHITE HOT

US, 2016, 90 minutes, Colour.
Shenae Grimes- Beech, Sean Farris, John Schneider, Ken Tremblett, Andrew Jenkins, Chris Hoyle.
Directed by Mark Jean.

A Lifetime of Lies is a better title than Sandra Brown’s White Hot – the story is not all that hot, let alone white hot, but that is the name of the novel and the author, Sandra Brown, has written the screenplay.

The film opens with a funeral, a suspected suicide which turns into a murder. The setting is a small town, centred on a factory, owned by an arrogant patriarch, played by John Schneider (Dukes of Hazard). The central character is his daughter who has left home long since and made a success of her life elsewhere (Shenae Grimes- Beech) but had kept in touch with her dead brother. There is another brother at home.

There is also a mysterious character in the household, a well-qualified lawyer (Sean Farris) whose behaviour is ambiguous, seeming to defend the father, is attracted to the daughter – and final revelation that he has infiltrated the family in order to get revenge for the death of his father in a previous factory accident.

The sheriff is under the thumb of the patriarch but his young assistant asks awkward questions but is humiliated by the father. There is also the former boyfriend of the daughter, who has now married, offers some information to the daughter and is bashed by her father’s henchmen.

Audiences will be moving from suspect to suspect as does the central character in her investigations – but, unexpected device, the murdered man had installed a camera in the hut where he was killed, which has photographed the whole crime.

The kind of film designed for a broad television audience.

1. The title, expectations, family and lies, the emerging of the truth?

2. The town, small, the family and its importance in the town, owning the factory, the factory and the workers? The atmosphere of the town, homes, mansions? The musical score?

3. The death, possible suicide, eventually revealed as murder? The funeral, the family gathering, the friends? The aftermath?

4. Sayre as the central character, the past alienation from the family, clashes with her father, breaking off with Clark, leaving town, her success in San Francisco? The return, not staying long, the impact of the encounters, her father and his reaction, her brother, the maid welcoming her?

5. Huff, a hard man, his relationship with his children? The factory, ownership, the staff? His relationship with the sheriff? Dominance of his children? Their reaction to him? His reaction to the death? His dominance of the sheriff, expecting everybody to do his will? The past deaths? Interactions with his sons? Information about past murders? His final reaction to Chris and the death? His physical collapse? The arrest?

6. Chris, his relationship with his father, with the firm, loyalty, at the table, interactions with his sister, the story of the clash with his brother, the nightclub and the box of matches? The camera in the room – and revealing him as the killer? For his father? His arrest?

7. Beck, his presence in the household, qualified lawyer, Sayre’s suspicions? His defence of Huff? Interactions with Chris? The ambiguity of his positions in the house, in the firm? His reactions, action, discussions with Sayre? The revelation of the truth, his mother, the death of his father, getting revenge – and succeeding? And a nice romantic ending?

8. The past cases, distant past, recent past, the links? Interviewing the wife of the dead man, the drinker, his car crash? Interview with the mother – charming and the irony that she was Beck’s mother?

9. The sheriff, his role, controlled by Half, his deputy and the deputy asking awkward questions and being slapped down? Taking Sayre to the house?

10. Clark, the past, the breakup, his marrying, child, giving some information to say, his being bashed?

11. Sayre and her involvement, going to her brother’s office, the refusal, her being let in, the hardhat, the evidence? Going through the documents? Going to the hut where he was killed?

12. The camera, the revelation of the truth, motives?

13. A murder mystery, a dysfunctional family, industrial power?