Til Death Do Us Part

You'd like to give a movie that condemns domestic violence at least a participation medal for sincerity, but this one takes such a slow and convoluted route that it staggers to the finish line. Not only that, but director/co-writer Chris Stokes' Til Death Do Us Part conspicuously borrows from other films in the genre, particularly Sleeping with the Enemy and Enough. Til Death is apparently intended as a thriller but plays more as a heavy-handed drama. And the characters choices aren't what you'd call logical. Get a restraining order and divorce your abusive husband, you say? Too easy! Instead, Madison cooks up her harebrained scheme, faking her death, changing her identity, and moving to a not-far-enough-away city. Leaving aside the insurance fraud that sets up her new life and her plan's extreme inattention to detail (she and her co-conspirators decline to list a time of death on hospital records ... then actually check her out of the hospital), the issue of leading Michael to believe that his unborn child is dead also isn't addressed.

Luckily for Madison, her new next-door neighbors turn out to be the world's handsomest and most swell widower and his spunky daughter. As Madison reluctantly develops feelings for Alex, the loose ends of her plan form a pretty clear trail for Michael to follow (surprise, surprise). The dialogue is loaded with clumsy exposition ("[That's] what you always wanted!" "I always wanted [this]!" "I know you always wanted [this]," etc.). Moments of electricity between characters are few and far between, despite a winsome performance from Diggs. And Bishop does a good job conveying Michael's extremes, but there's no connective tissue -- the script and direction don't show us why he transforms from perfect man to abusive swine to grieving widower to delusional psychopath. Emotional resonances are missed: A man whose wife died in childbirth is asked to witness his new love's labor ... no problem! The twists are telegraphed, questions are left unanswered, it all takes a very long time to get there, and it feels awfully familiar along the way. On the bright side, it does say domestic violence is a no-no, it's lushly shot, and pretty much the entire cast is easy on the eyes. So there's that.