blanche-2 Natasha Henstridge is a widow accused of murdering her husband (James Brolin) in The Widow on the Hill, a 2005 film that has the stamp of Lifetime all over it.This is the true story of the Donna Sommerville case, here called Linda Cavanaugh. The device of the film is that Linda is being interviewed for an in-depth news story before her trial, so we see in flashbacks that she originally came to Mt. Iris, the home of Hank Cavanaugh (in real life Hamilton Sommerville), to care for his dying wife. Shortly after his wife's death, Linda and Hank marry.According to the film, Linda considered herself hot stuff and seduced two of the stable boys, and everybody knew but Hank himself. He intended to divorce her, but he became ill. He recovered but then died. Linda wanted him cremated immediately, but one of the daughters was convinced that Linda had killed her father.The coroner finally called for an autopsy after one of the stable hands admitted that he had seen Linda reading the will the night of her husband's death, and before bringing him food, she had made a stop in the kitchen. Morphine was later discovered there, and the autopsy showed Hank had died from a combination of drugs. In the film, he evidently made a new will to benefit only his wife and disinherited his daughters, which was felt to be Linda's influence. There is a scene in the film when Hank learns she cheated on him and he says he is divorcing her and redoing his will.The film stops at a point before the trial. In real life, Donna was acquitted of the crime and continued to live on the family estate, eventually studying for the ministry. Somerville's daughters filed a multimillion dollar suit against her as in civil court, the burden of evidence of murder is less. This is all stated on the chiron at the end of the movie.Five years later, Somerville lost in civil court and the daughters were able to reclaim the family estate.This isn't particularly well acted. Henstridge, despite comments here from one poster, is a gorgeous woman who has had a career as a model. I find the comments about her rear end ridiculous. You'd think no one had ever seen a woman before. Was she too young for James Brolin? Yes, but I believe there was an age difference between the real-life characters. This isn't the first time we've seen an old guy with a young woman.Let's face it, even when they're based on a true story, Lifetime movies are not Grade A productions. They're light entertainment that you watch when you want to relax and shut the world off for a while. Obviously this real-life story could have been more compelling, but you can't expect that from Lifetime. It's like expecting McDonald's to be a five-star restaurant.

edwagreen When a man loses his wife in Florida, all the widows run with chicken soup to catch the new widower.Natasha Henstridge plays a 3 time divorcée who becomes a nurse and goes to work in a hospice like atmosphere at the home of James Brolin's dying wife.The wife complies by dying shortly and romance soon blooms between Henstridge and the "grief" stricken widower. Naturally, the town gossips have a field day with this. Their talk will not be long as the two wed.Henstridge has plenty on her mind and plate for that matter. She has affairs with ranch hands as she mocks the institution of marriage-full throttle.Of course, she has to contend with an alcoholic step-daughter and a recently wed step-daughter. The former really is on to Linda (Henstridge) but is powerless to act.When Brolin (Cavanaugh) dies suddenly, Linda wants to cremate him. We all know what that means. A natural demise did not come to the real-life husband of Barbra Streisand!While the story is predictable, the ending really isn't but there is some good acting by the entire cast.No wonder everyone raises an eye-brow when a widower remarries so quickly!

whpratt1 This was a very entertaining film shown on Lifetime and it kept my interest from beginning to end. There is good reason you might have guessed how the story ends, however, you could have been easily fooled. Natasha Henstridge (Linda Cavanaugh),"A Better Way to Die",2000, played a sweet and very sexy evil gal, who enjoyed herself in every way possible and was bound and determined to over power everyone she came into contact with. James Brolin,(Hank Cavanaugh),"Traffic",2000, gave a great performance in the romantic department and even in the funeral parlor, which I did not think was necessary at all. If you want to see romance and flirting in the church, barn and everywhere, this is the film for YOU.

Foot_Freakin_Master I started off being interested somewhat in the movie. It appeared it might be serious drama, dealing with death, grief, and healing, with some realistic human conflict thrown in. Alas, it didn't hold up.I need a movie with somewhat consistent and believable characters. Too many characters in this movie were portrayed as extremely gullible and inconsistent. Look, I know this was not supposed to be Shakespeare, but come on, I need some quality in script and characterization.The acting was alright, the writing not so much. At one point, James Brolin's character is berated for showing up at a picnic under-dressed. He states that ordering him around will not work. His new wife says that if he goes home and changes she will rip his clothes off later. That is a howler. This movie had a few unintentionally funny lines.It was hard to care about Jame's Brolin's character. When he so readily gave his first wife's things to his new wife, even allowing his daughter to be snubbed, I lost most of my sympathy. Who really cares what happens to him. I must confess that I did not finish the movie. If it did a 180 in quality in the last 45 minutes, let me know. It was just unpleasant to watch and so predictable I felt there was no need to finish it.