LOVING EVANGELINE

Canada, 1998, 95 minutes, Colour.
Nick Mancuso, Kelly Rowan, Shari Belafonte, Winston Rekert, Eugene Robert Glazer.
Directed by Timothy Bond.

Loving Evangeline is a pretentious name for a very average romantic thriller.

Nick Mancuso appears as a software expert, who has brought up his younger brother, who is disappointed in him and finds that he has died in what seems to be a fishing accident. He then investigates with the help of a woman who runs a boat business. However, she comes under suspicion and he investigates further – only to find that the whole thing has been a set-up and his brother has been murdered. He falls in love with the proprietor of the boating company – whose husband suddenly emerges from the dead and has masterminded the whole thing.

The film is based on a novel by Linda Howard, the Mills and Boon Harlequin variety. However, bloggers on the IMDB have been very strong in complaint that the film bears very little resemblance to the novel, adding characters and changing characters.

The film seems to want to be more melodramatic than it is, Nick Mancuso giving a rather restrained performance and making the audience find it hard to believe the attraction to Kelly Rowan. Shari Belafonte appears as his assistant.

1.A romantic thriller? Credible? Effective or not?

2.The city settings, the software company? The contrast with the countryside, the lake, the town? The musical score?

3.The introduction to Robert Cannon, his expertise, his company, Mercer as his partner? Ellen Beecham as his assistant? The rival company and their success? Working against the clock? Robert and his relation to his brother?

4.Kevin Cannon, genial, going out fishing? His death? The background of his research, his relationship with his older brother? His being murdered – and his having succeeded in his building the program?

5.Robert, his going home for the funeral, discussions with the police? With his partner? The revelation that the partner was the villain? In league with Grant Shaw? The rival company? The payoff?

6.Evie Shaw, Robert being suspicious of her, her reticence? The explanation about the boats? Going out with her on the boat? Visiting the site? The attraction, the dates, the meals?

7.The bank accounts, Ellen Beecham investigating Evie? The documentation against her? Robert and the confrontation? Her denial?

8.Grant Shaw, his revelation of what had happened? Wanting to go away with his wife? Their flight, the pursuit, Robert and the police, the using of Kevin’s mechanism to locate Evie and her husband? The confrontation, shootout?

9.Mercer’s death?

10.The resolution of the situation, the success with the software, the rival company and the threats? The romantic ending? How effective?