A House on Fire

source: Ann Rule's A House on Fire

Moviecut—Ann Rule's A House on Fire

Another once-in-a-lifetime film that isn't really noteworthy. It was certainly an interesting story to hear. They had three children in real life, so I wish they had mentioned the third, but they didn't. If you enjoy LMN films, I recommend checking it out. Just don't expect anything special from this film; it's just like the others.

While this was a very entertaining movie if you read and rules book or followed the actual details of the case it's entirely twisted. The events don't happen in order there's so much not in the movie that actually occurred- and the portrayal of the individuals physically and emotionally are not accurate either. Very disappointing.

A House on Fire (my latest review) refers to an actual house gone a blazing. Who started it? I don't quite know. Same goes for the movie in general. I don't know what to make of "Fire". It just lingers, it's an experiment, and we the audience are frustrated by it. So yeah, A House on Fire is like a Forensic Files episode stretched to ninety minutes. However, there's no interviews, no creepy narrator voice, and we don't see anything magnified under a microscope. DNA stuff? Well it never comes to fruition. You wanna see Stephanie March give a raw performance in "Fire?" Well you'll get it and it's all good. You want to see a bunch of jumbled scenes that reek of discombobulation? Well you'll get that too and it's not all good. "Fire" has no center, no reason to bounce off of. I can't imagine what the Lifetime execs thought during the first screening. I mean how can you green-light a film that goes off on tangents while veering so far from the cinematic, beaten path? Heck, you can't root for the husband and wife characters because they are both a little off in their Dr. Phil resolves. Released in March of this year, harboring interrogation flashbacks, and filmed in Manitoba, Canada (hey it's cheaper from a budget standpoint), A House on Fire is about a married doctor couple who are dysfunctional to the nth degree. They are in the amidst of a divorce, their house catches on fire, and they are both questioned after two of their children are burned to death. What's the overall motif of "Fire?" Um, I'm not sure. Both parents are messed up and both of these guardian weirdos need a swift kick in the behind. A House on Fire as a pic, needs to be on "house arrest". Call the "where are they now" cast of Leave It to Beaver for reinforcements.

Another lifetime movie, nothing special really. It was a story to hear, that is for sure. In real life, they had three children so I wish they would have told about the third child but they didn't. I would recommend seeing if you are a fan of LMN movies. Just do not expect anything magical out of this movie because it is just like the rest. One horrible human being, not getting what she deserves in the end.

I just happened to finish the book this movie is based off of yesterday. I know they can't fit in everything that happened in the book in two hours but that has nothing to do with how the main character was written. The very first scene of the movie shows Debra Green distraught over the fire. She's screaming and crying. Nothing like the Debra Green described in the book. There was also another child which was not in the movie. I'm only 25 minutes into the movie and their home life looks happy . Nothing like how it actually happened. I'm surprised Ann Rule approved this movie. Book. There were also.

I was really moved by this movie, it had me captivated. But there is a review from someone that states this is not true to fact. I live in CT, and I know the Jennifer Dulos story is coming out next month. I'm curious to see if I'll be having the same type of review as the poster after watching the Lifetime movie. Her husband who killed her is dead, she's dead. So the movie will be based on peoples' stories they tell to Lifetime. Depending on who the network talks to, the movie may or may not be accurate.

When Dr. Mike Farrar met Dr. Debra "Deb" Green, it was a relationship that seemed too good to be true. As it turned out, it was exactly that: too good to be true. "Ann Rule's A House on Fire" is a melodramatic domestic tragedy with overtones of another operatic burning house saga film: "Manchester By the Sea." In this case, however, the film brings in overtones of the story of Medea who kills her children out of spite for her husband. A central image for the film is the scrapbook kept by Deb that embodies all her hopes and dreams: job, house, kids. Unfortunately, in Deb's twisted mind, she is using those objects for her own ego to cover her lifelong insecurity. It stretched credibility to think that Mike would stick around for as long as he did as he witnessed his Deb's monumental meltdown. He recognized her addiction, both to drugs and booze, but she also invested far too much personal significance in a house. The mansion at 2002 Canterbury Court was supposed to be her dream house. But for the poor children, it turned into a death trap due to Deb's latest addiction: pyromania. The film made it absolutely clear that she wanted the children dead as payback to the father. "A House on Fire" was not a great film. But it had enough of the same compelling power of personal suffering and the response of evil, as practiced by Medea: a gifted and brilliant woman who harnesses her magic powers in the wrong way. In the Greek legend of Medea as told by Euripides, Medea flies off in her chariot in the end after killing her babies. In the case of Deb Green, she will serve two consecutive 40-year prison sentences in which she may contemplate her scrapbook while wearing an orange jumpsuit.

Stephanie March does a decent enough portrayal of a supposedly-brilliant woman descending into madness. However, she seems to be the only decent actor in this movie. The others have a high-school-quality, "Lifetime TV movie" feel to them. Well, this is a Lifetime movie after all; what do you expect? Also, her actions towards the end do not quite line up with her brilliance, so I am made to guess there is more to the story than what the movie is letting on. It feels very incomplete and I feel cheated at the end.