Stealing Paradise

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source: Stealing Paradise

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I like Rachael Lee Cook, always have and always will. She is the main reason I decided to watch this movie. She plays a character close to her age, a 29-year-old MIT-trained aeronautical engineer. Up-and-coming star in her Boston area company. Her senior co-worker becomes aware of a project she is working on at home, it would be a new type of device for braking after landing of jet engines. Inspired by her father, a pilot who died because of a short runway. One day she becomes aware that the other fellow is claiming the invention for himself. All her designs show up on his work computer. Then he is found dead, apparently murdered. All that happens pretty early in the movie and the rest is trying to figure out who the murderer is. It has all the earmarks of a low-budget TV movie and some of the scenes, especially in the courtroom, are a bit cheesy. But the story is constructed in a way that makes it entertaining and interesting all the way through. My wife and I enjoyed it as light but decent entertainment. At home, streaming on Amazon Prime movies.

So Rachel Leigh Cook is a brilliant engineer and comes up with a groundbreaking invention. The invention is stolen by her sleazy boss who Is sleeping around in the office. Her brother is a lawyer, so they go in to complain and make their case. The matter is going to suit, when the sleazebag gets killed, and eventually, all the evidence points to Rachel Leigh Cook, who gets arrested for Murder 1. Her Brother arises for a tenacious defense. Things get even more complex from there; it's a great, great film! Definitely watch!

I've seen my fair share of made for TV movies and this has to be the best one to date. While the ending was a little anticlimactic and disappointing it didn't spoil my overall enjoyment. I have to admit that I was on the verge of switching the movie off in the first couple of minutes as it had that typical start to an average TV movie but I'm glad I stuck to it as once the mystery got going it piqued my interest. There are several twists and turns that will confuse you as to the identity of the killer- I thought I had it figured out but I was way off the mark and it was fun to be bamboozled. Rachel Leigh Cook is decent for the most part, not quite as convincing as the nerd MIT genius that her character is made out to be. Graham Abbey as her brother is not bad too. I think that this movie warrants a higher rating than what's listed. It's certainly not the best mystery movie out there nor is it a box office burner but it is certainly ranks as one of the best TV movies released and it's definitely worth watching on a lazy Sunday or on a rainy evening.

Amanda Collier was a kid with a dream. Her father was a pilot in the military, and he died when he overshot the runway on one of his landings. Years later, his daughter, who graduated at the top of her engineering class at M. I. T., has designed a new aero shield with "variable pitch" that will permit jets to land safer on the tarmac. For Amanda, the invention is her way of arriving at the "Emerald City." The major conflict of "Stealing Paradise" focuses on a jealous colleague of Amanda at the Lonsdale Aeronautics corporation. After Brendan Cavanaugh hacks her computer and takes credit for her design, the feisty Amanda pushes back with a lawsuit. But suddenly Brendan is murdered, and Amanda is fingered for the crime. My favorite character in the film was Steve Collier, Amanda's legal eagle brother. The quick-thinking attorney represents Amanda in court and dazzles the jury with his logic and humor. It slowly emerges that Brendan Cavanaugh had a partner who wanted to reap the benefits of Amanda's design for his own purposes. The race against the clock is on to discover who is the perpetrator. There was some good footage from the Boston locale and excellent production values from the filmmakers. There was also an extremely competent cast. But it was especially the screenplay that was effective in sustaining dramatic tension and leading the heroine to a successful arrival at her Emerald City. Dorothy has finally arrived in the land of Oz!

It's an interesting concept in breaking the engineering sexism that only men can design great projects, but as brilliant as the protagonist is, you never see her doing any work other than being a busy body. For a woman who is supposed to be a brilliant engineer, she is a complete fool in dealing with the police, the engineer who stole her design, and her colleagues who could prove her innocent. Each time she does something to try and save herself, the viewer is left asking, "how can someone who is so smart, so foolish." It is her own stupidity that keeps the plot going, which is totally contrary to her character of a brilliant engineer. The movie has good suspense and action, as long as you don't care about the inconsistencies of the character.

Not terrible. Half interesting story line and acting is workable. The only thing I can't get past the more these movie goes, the lead actress never had anything more than a semi bored, overly docile reaction to one of the biggest events in her life. Her reaction to everything is this way. She gets a hostile personal safety threat, her brother gets hit by a car on his motorcycle... everything is a placid reaction. Like its a normal day. That's what bothered me eventually. My brain fighting bw what the story is and what her reactions are, they don't match. She never actually gets upset. It makes it feel almost boring.

Stealing Paradise