Lifetime
Lifetime reunites stars Eva Marcille and Tyler Lepley from 2024’s successful Buried Alive and Survived in a not quite ‘Ripped from the Headlines’ but ‘inspired by real stories’ (plural?!) tale of duplicity and survival, Pushed Off a Plane and Survived.
Marcille stars as hair salon mogul Jaynie, a woman who has such bad luck with men she’s making her sister $20 richer by the date because Tess knows Jaynie can’t pick a man to save her life. On her latest attempt, Jaynie quickly decides — twenty minutes in (or a dollar a minute) — that her current date is not the man for her after he makes a bad joke about being his wife. She wants to leave but the guy tries to talk her into staying, however, another man at the bar steps in and suggests very strongly that he let the lady leave. No, scratch that, because the way the guy is treating her, he should be the one to leave, which he does, and the mystery man asks Jaynie if she’d like to stay instead. She does and she instantly clicks with Cole and wastes no time in hitting the sheets with him. Jaynie does give Tess her twenty bucks, but she is thrilled that the other guy seems to be exactly the type of man she wants. After introducing him to her sister over lunch, Tess has that look on her face afterwards that she does not approve … or at least she feels there’s something off. But Jaynie thinks Tess is just being over-protective and she gets deeper into the relationship with Cole, even doing things she would never do — like skydive. On a trip to Vegas, Cole has a spur of the moment idea — marriage — and Jaynie throws caution to the wind and ties the knot. Tess, who is also Jaynie’s business manager, is less than thrilled by Jaynie’s impulsive, out-of-character behavior and wonders what kind of influence Cole holds over her, especially when Cole drops the idea that Jaynie should invest in a high end nightclub with him. Jaynie does think it’s a solid idea but, as a successful businesswoman, she knows the first rule of business is ‘don’t invest your own money’. Cole disagrees and convinces her that without investors, they get all the profit. Tess is not happy. And Jaynie gets a little sketched out when Cole brings one of his buddies to her salon to meet and talk business, but Jaynie gets a less-than-professional vibe from the guy and lets Cole know she is not very comfortable even considering the guy to work for them. Cole drowns his sorrows at a bar — Cole does not drink, believing alcohol is poison, and he also engages in ‘clean’ eating — but after bartender Nikki strikes up a conversation with him, and turns down a job offer, it’s not long before those two are hitting the sheets.
Lifetime
After arriving home late with no word on where he was, and having his phone on mute to miss Jaynie’s calls, tensions begin to arise in the relationship but Jaynie is willing to give Cole the benefit of the doubt. To make up for his behavior, Cole prepares a nice dinner for his wife, and when she goes to take a bath later, she falls asleep and slowly slips under the water. Luckily Tess has shown up out of the blue and she and Cole find Jaynie in the tub. Cole lifts her out and Tess calls 9-1-1, but Jaynie is fine after a couple of days. Cole is still behaving oddly, still carrying on with Nikki, and still having trust issues with Jaynie so to alleviate the tension he suggests they do something they haven’t done in a while — go skydiving. Jaynie, who was terrified the first time, has enjoyed the adrenaline rush and is game, and when it comes time to make the jump, she and Cole go at the same time (she was never pushed as the title suggests). He deploys his chute but Jaynie’s does not and she plummets to the ground. Luckily the smaller chute that did deploy gave her some drag and the trees she landed in broke her fall, but she’s still in bad shape. After recovering and returning home, the skydiving company’s insurance rep says there is nothing to hold them accountable because this was a one-in-five-million accident and, by the way, it was her husband who packed the parachutes. Tess puts the two coincidences together and is sure Cole is trying to murder Jaynie, and for a hot minute Jaynie considers it but she can’t believe her husband would do that. Why? She tries to brush it off, and Cole is trying to get Nikki to stop calling and texting him, at first telling her it’s over but then leading her on again and going back to her apartment for some sexytime. Unfortunately, Nikki has the goods on Cole, or rather Michael, an ex-con who was in prison for attempted murder. Thinking she has him by the balls, Cole assures her he will leave Jaynie, but Nikki makes the soon-to-be fatal mistake of going out onto her balcony, and when she feels she’s won and jumps into Cole’s arms … he drops her over the edge. After the police come to Jaynie’s house to question Cole about the dead woman, she begins to think that maybe there is something to her two ‘accidents’ and the death of a woman Cole was involved with. She then learns that a high dose of an allergy medication was found in her system the night she nearly drowned and the doctor says she relayed the information to Cole … who did not tell her. She and Tess go to the police with the information and a receipt for the pills, but he can’t do anything without solid proof, so he just tells Jaynie to not make her husband mad. On the day of her next physical therapy session, Cole shows up to drive her despite Jaynie having already called for a car. In the car, Jaynie calls Tess to let her know she’s on the way to therapy and Cole just happened to show up to drive her, isn’t that sweet. She hangs up and Cole misses the turn, instead telling Jaynie he has something to show her. He pulls up to an old dilapidated warehouse and tells her this is where their club will be. While listening to his grand plans, Jaynie begins to poke the bear, accusing him outright of killing Nikki and trying to kill her. He tries to play the injured party but she is not letting it go, and he finally admits to killing Nikki to get her out of the way. Jaynie offers him a million dollars to go on his way and she won’t say anything but while she wants to hear more about the club, he wants to go to the bank and get his coin. Jaynie tries to delay as they hear sirens in the distance and Cole realizes that Jaynie was recording the conversation. Actually she never hung up after calling Tess, so Tess was recording and relayed everything to the police, including Jaynie’s location. But they are all still too far away to get there before Cole can become violent, and now a still in recovery Jaynie is facing the fight of her life. Will the police and Tess arrive in time to save her?
Pushed Off a Plane and Survived, from Buried Alive and Survived writers Gregory Small and Richard Blaney, with Nigel Campbell, and director Manu Boyer, is another taut relationship thriller that brings back the first film’s two stars. The story does a nice job of presenting Jaynie as a woman who knows what she wants but is just about at the end of her rope in the failed relationships department. Cole rides in like a knight in shining armor and shows her how a real gentleman behaves. The whole situation is so smooth you might even wonder if the ‘date’ was a cohort of Cole’s just there to lure her into his trap. That would certainly explain a lot, because otherwise Cole would not have known who Jaynie was or that she was very well off financially. You have to wonder if she was a target the whole time, and Cole was just looking for a rich woman to kill and get her money. Otherwise it just feels like a bit too much happenstance. That being said, the relationship builds nicely and Cole does not rush into trying to kill Jaynie, waiting for just the right time to strike — although the near drowning and near-death skydiving accident may have come just a little too close together to be coincidental. That being said, it all still works well thanks to the writing, directing and acting, and the climax is definitely one that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Lifetime
The gorgeous Eva Marcille plays Jaynie as a strong, savvy businesswoman, tough when she needs to be but also a woman with a soft side, a woman who wants to be loved by a man without sacrificing who she is just to please someone. Her Jaynie also falls into the classic stage of denial after her ‘accidents’, a place that too many abused women find themselves in, but she is resilient and intelligent enough to finally see what’s happening and does what she can to get out of the situation. Perhaps she will be an inspiration to others. Marcille gives an authentic performance from beginning to end, and we believe in Jaynie, rooting for her to see the light before it’s too late. Tyler Lepley is also terrific, entirely convincing in his portrayal of Cole as the perfect gentleman, totally smitten with Jaynie. Even with his rash decision to propose marriage, it still feels like a genuine act of love than a calculated plan. He also does a great job of showing Cole calmly waiting for Jaynie to drown, but having to switch into panic mode when Tess arrives and they find her at the bottom of the tub. The way he casually tosses Nikki off the balcony is chilling, and when he comes to take Jaynie to her appointment, there is a sense of danger permeating from him. He has to run through a gamut of emotions and behaviors, and Lepley does an outstanding job with his performance.
Regina Bryant is also excellent as Tess. Through her performance, we see that Tess has no qualms in telling Jaynie how it is, but is still savvy enough to know if she pushes too hard Jaynie will just put up some walls and do what she wants. She knows she has to broach the subject of Cole potentially trying to murder her very carefully so Jaynie doesn’t think she just has issues with the relationship considering Jaynie’s money is also getting tied up with Cole. Bryant shows Tess’ concern but she can be forward enough and subtle so as not to push Jaynie away. Brenna Skalski is also terrific as Nikki, at first just seeming to be doing her job and trying to get Cole to spend money at the bar by flirting, and even though she seems fine with his marriage and their cheating relationship, she later clearly shows that she believes she is the better choice for Cole. And when she learns his truth, she wastes no time in letting him know in what seems to be an attempt at blackmailing him into dumping Jaynie for her, but it is a foolish mistake. Brendan Wentworth also has a couple of good scenes as Detective Rice, not seeming entirely convinced that Cole didn’t have anything to do with Nikki’s death, while also trying to keep Jaynie safe without overstepping any bounds that would endanger the case.
Pushed Off a Plane and Survived may not match its predecessor in terms of edge-of-the-seat drama, but it is still an excellent thriller, with a subtle message about not allowing yourself to become a victim, with an outstanding cast headed by Marcille and Lepley.
24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, the National Domestic Violence Hotline provides essential tools and support to help survivors of domestic violence so they can live their lives free of abuse. If you or someone you know needs help, call 1.800.799.SAFE (7233), text 88788, or visit thehotline.org to connect with an advocate.
Pushed Off a Plane and Survived has a run time of 1 hour 27 minutes, and is rated TV-14.
Pushed Off a Plane and Survived | Official Trailer
Lifetime
His name is Brendan Wentworth
Thank you! He is mentioned in our review…
That Detective was great. I have seen that actor before and he is very believable.