Movie Review: The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango (2023)

Synopsis: Constance Bailey is a talented detective who prefers to work without a partner. However, when a wealthy CEO dies under mysterious circumstances in Malta and she is recruited to help Interpol crack the case, Det. Bailey is paired with a dancer/actor, Sebastion Moore, to pose as one of the company's new executives and enter a corporate dance competition with her "husband."

Who's in it? The movie stars Lacey Chabert, Will Kemp, Natasha Babic, Diego Wallraff and Claire Agius.

Review: My wife and I recently watched another Lacey Chabert Hallmark movie and, when I saw she had this new one, I decided to add it to our library. My wife and I wound up watching it last night, and it turned out to be a decent choice.

There were a couple things I liked about this movie in particular. One of the big ones was the murder mystery. Since the movie doesn't introduce us to the victim (Steve Abela) for more than a few seconds prior to his death, all the viewer knows is he was wealthy, in an unhappy marriage and wasn't well-liked by his employees. This made the list of suspects almost endless because the motive could have been everything from his wife (Babic) wanting him out of the way so she could be with her lover to a disgruntled employee looking for either his job or revenge. Plus, since the cause of death wasn't confirmed yet, there was also the possibility he wasn't murdered and just died from a heart attack.

Another thing I liked about this movie was how well Chabert and Kemp work together. Chabert's Det. Bailey was very serious while Kemp's Sebastian Moore was more of a free spirit, somewhat unpredictable and at times, surprisingly brilliant, especially when it came to reading people. The characters ended up making a great detective team and, while there was a hint of romantic tension between them, the writers never let it reach a point where they acted on it. This was something I appreciated because, while I could see them as friends, having them become lovers by the time the case was over would have seemed more than a little forced.

I found I liked the ending of this movie as well, with Bailey figuring out the case while in the middle of a tango and determining a motive that was much more of a surprise than I was expecting. I'm not sure if this is just going to be one movie or the first in a series of films, but the ending does a great job of setting up a potential sequel while still providing closure (something too few films do today).

Final Opinion: It's an entertaining movie with just the right amount of mystery, comedy and chemistry between the two leads. I'd recommend watching it.

My Grade: A