Review: “Ann Rule’s Everything She Ever Wanted”

Taking obvious liberties with the story that inspired it, the movie is told by Gershon’s Pat Allanson as she recounts the scandal of her marriage to a younger divorced man (Ryan McPartlin) and the disapproval this elicits from his wealthy father (Victor Garber, in little more than a cameo).

Vowing that she won’t settle for less, Pat proceeds to methodically eliminate those members of her husband’s family who stand between her and that coveted inheritance. Without giving too much away, let’s just say her special soup packs an inordinately strong kick.

Eventually, Pat’s behavior arouses the suspicion of her sister Rachel (Rachel Blanchard — honest), who has a bad, potentially dangerous, habit of looking in drawers just at the moment when Pat is about to enter the room. Seriously, can’t she hear that ominous music every time they reenact this scenario?

Unlike the recent Rule romp “Too Late to Say Goodbye,” Michael Vickerman’s script, Peter Svatek’s direction and Gershon’s sex-oozing performance as lil’ ol’ Pat embrace “Everything’s” camp factor in a way that practically feels like an unabashed spoof of the genre. The main drawback is that the initial plot comes to a rather unexpected stop before Pat finds a rich family upon which to prey, cheekily telling them she’s been busy “taking care of my family.”

There’s no denying the appetite for salacious true crime through the years — or that the broadcast networks left a void by dealing with such stories exclusively in their newsmagazines while virtually abandoning TV movies.

Of course, it would be nice if Lifetime’s movie arm aimed its sights a bit higher, but as even Pat might eventually admit, you can’t have everything.