Movie Review: Francesca Quinn, PI (2022)
Synopsis: When Det. Francesca "Frankie" Quinn and her partner, Det. Wynton "Wyn" Rousseau discover several seemingly accidental deaths were actually murders, they learn Quinn's stepmother, Megan, is behind them and arrest her. A year later, with the scandal resulting in her father resigning as chief of police and her secret relationship with Wyn outed during the trial, Quinn now works as a private investigator and is engaged to writer Carl Wiseman, who, against Quinn's wishes, is writing a tell-all book that includes intimate details about Quinn. When Carl is murdered after a party, Quinn insists on investigating, both for her and for Carl's sister. This leads to her and Wyn teaming up and exposing many dark secrets, including the real reason they broke up.
Who's in it? The movie stars Mallory Jansen, Dylan Bruce, Teryl Rothery, Samantha Kendrick, Amy Groening and Alicia Johnston.
Review: I rarely watch Hallmark movies without my wife but my plan to watch a classic monster movie this morning was quashed by my inability to find one that looked interesting and, since there was a time limit on my search, I settled for Francesca Quinn, PI, since it was already in my library and I figured my wife (who isn't into mysteries as much as I am) wouldn't mind.
Overall, it turned out to be an OK choice.
The murder mystery was a good one. While I was more than a little surprised Quinn (Jansen) wasn't considered a suspect in her fiancé's (Derek Kun) death. allowing her to investigate freely, there were plenty of other potential suspects, including her partner/ex-lover Wyn (Bruce) to more than make up for it. There were also plenty of motives, ranging from jealousy to money, that added to that mystery as well as a seemingly secondary plot about a string of burglaries I kind of figured would turn out to be somehow related.
I think the thing I liked best about this was the main villain, Megan (Rothery). There was a clear evil side to her (she was, after all, a serial killer) but since she also was a teacher, she had a connection to just about everyone in town. That meant, even if she couldn't commit the murder herself because she was behind bars, there were plenty of people who might do it for her or at least use her as a scapegoat.
Ultimately, even though it wasn't overly difficult to figure out who the killer was, the motive did remain a bit murky until the end. This meant the film, like too many other movies I've watched in this genre, didn't get boring because I had a reason to watch.
Another pleasant surprise was the way the film managed to keep things professional between the two main characters, despite their history and clear affection for each other. Since it is a Hallmark movie, I wondered if they would end up romantically involved again even though, given the circumstances, it would have been highly inappropriate. I'm glad the filmmakers knew not to cross that line and even ended it on an open note, with them being friends but not necessarily romantic partners again.
My only real negative about the movie is I felt like too much information was shared in exposition with people talking about past events rather than the film showing at least some of them in real time. Quinn's relationship with Carl, for example, probably would have made a lot more sense had the movie shown more of it rather than just showing them fighting before he was killed. I'm also still a little confused why everyone seemed to think Quinn's original relationship with Wyn was such a scandal, other than them being coworkers.
Final Opinion: It's an entertaining movie with a reasonably good mystery and a memorable villain. I still would have preferred a monster movie, but it was a nice alternative.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other Hallmark movies:
Movie Review: Hidden Gems (2022)
Movie Review: Crimes of Fashion: Killer Clutch (2024)
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