Lifetime
Lifetime returns to its series of ‘Secret Life’ films with the new thriller Secret Life of the Dean’s Wife which, even by the network’s own description (which notes the husband’s secret life), seems to be a completely misleading title … but is it?
Kate Watson, who was just seen in Murder at the Derby, stars as Margaret Collins, wife of Richard Collins (Don Jeanes), the dean of a local university (she also works for the university in some capacity). They have a daughter, Emily (Jenna Hogan), who also attends the university and has a bit of a rebellious streak in her, causing some issues right of the bat by getting nabbed by campus police for underage drinking (but it’s all hush hush so as not to cause a scandal). Things are fine and dandy until Alex Carter (Matthew O’Donnell) shows up … and he just happens to be Margaret’s ex (maybe). He is a former journalist now teaching journalism at this particular university, which may or may not be a coincidence.
Lifetime
Things begin to unravel for the Collinses when a student and a mentee of Richard’s, Jessica Turner (Rachel Comeau), has an overdose but the whole event seems to be swept under the rug at the university. Emily, who is in Alex’s class, believes something is shady because usually when something like this happens, the school sends out mass emails about the dangers of whatever the issue was. Nothing this time. Alex encourages her to not jump to conclusions, and not to storm into the hospital to talk to Jessica, just watch and gather information. Watch she does and discovers her father exiting the hospital with Jessica. Margaret is already suspicious of Richard because he came home late the same night the girl OD’ed and lied about being at the hospital with her (something she learned when someone placed an envelope of incriminating photos on her car windshield). Chatting with Alex about the whole situation plants more seeds of doubt about her husband into her mind so Margaret decides to pay a visit to Jessica. Finding the door to her (absurdly lavish for a college student) condo open, Margaret lets herself in, hears a noise (on the third floor!) and goes up to find Jessica unconscious on the bathroom floor with an open bottle of pills near her. Margaret has just enough time to call 911 before she is attacked by an assailant dressed in black with a black ski mask hiding his identity. Richard shows up to find out what is happening and both he and Margaret have a lot of explaining to do, with Margaret mostly not believing anything Richard tells her about how he was trying to help Jessica with her drug addiction. But Richard begins to believe Alex is behind the troubles his family is facing all of a sudden, and violently confronts him at his home, leaving a large bruise on Alex’s cheek. Alex retaliates but writing a scathing exposé for the university paper about Richard’s mentoring of female students that opens a whole can of infidelity worms, and before the media gets wind of it Richard is ordered to take a leave of absence by his boss, Charles (Circus Szalewski). It then becomes clear to Margaret and Emily that Alex has one big reason for trying to destroy their family, and it’s finally revealed that Margaret does indeed have a ‘secret life’, or at least a secret past, that is now exposed. Can her family survive, or will she beat Alex at his own game?
Secret Life of the Dean’s Wife seems confused right from the start because the secret life in question is actually the dean’s himself. There is the payoff near the end about Margaret’s secret but it takes a while to finally get there. The script by Gregory Cohen actually does a nice job of building tension, but if you’re paying even the least bit of attention it’s clear that Alex has an agenda (and this viewer called it about 30 minutes in, although Margaret’s secret did come as a surprise). One other thing the script does — which is either genius or terribly frustrating — is that it really only shows the whole situation with Richard from Margaret’s perspective. The viewers are in the same boat as her, completely unsure of what Richard was doing with Jessica, and only seeing him with her from Emily’s perspective outside the hospital. It makes the audience completely identify with Margaret and, like her, we can only take his word for his relationship with the young woman. But it is a bit frustrating that while Margaret has lost trust in her husband, she seems to fully believe what this man from her past who suddenly shows up is telling her about Richard and his cheating ways (his article suggests many inappropriate relationships between Richard and his mentees over the years), and even when she does confront Richard she never really wants to give him the chance to admit what he’s done even though he tries. She also never puts two and two together that this sudden appearance of Alex coincides with the sudden turmoil in her marriage. If things had been a little less obvious, this could have been a three-star review.
Lifetime
The cast, however, does a fine job of carrying the story as written. Watson, even though she’s written to be a bit too gullible, is still a strong presence and carries the story, appearing in almost every scene. She makes Margaret a strong woman who is fiercely protective of her family, but perhaps she falls into Alex’s trap so easily because she’s carrying the burden of her own secret from her husband (who eventually admits that he’s known about for their entire marriage) and her daughter (upon whom the secret may have the greatest impact). It’s a solid performance and Watson makes for an engaging presence. Don Jeanes is fine as Richard, although he’s a little stiff at first. He does seem to loosen up a bit more as the story moves forward and Richard’s life unravels, but he always seems to be hiding something even when he’s ‘admitting’ to what he’s hiding. Jenna Hogan is also good as Emily, although she’s written to go from rebellious to devoted daughter a bit too quickly, but once she gets deep into Alex’s clutches she gives a believable performance (it makes more sense for her to be so easily misled than it does Margaret). Matthew O’Donnell is also very good as Alex, seemingly professional and on the level, never over playing the obviousness of his role, always speaking in calm tones to plant the suggestions about Richard into Margaret’s and Emily’s thoughts. He does get to really chew the scenery during the film’s conclusion, but it makes sense at that point as his whole house of cards begins to crumble. All around good work by the entire cast.
Over all, Secret Life of the Dean’s Wife is a decent, though obvious, thriller supported by a terrific cast, a pretty good script, decent direction, some over-the-top production design (everyone has lavish housing here), and an ending that actually feels authentic (which may be the movie’s biggest surprise).
Secret Life of the Dean’s Wife has a run time of 1 hour 27 minutes, and is rated TV-14.