Discussion thread for 'My Neighbor's Secret,' starring Nicholas Brendon
Vincent Ventresca, Dakota Goyo, Chandra West, Nicholas Brendon. © Lifetime Entertainment Services.
My Neighbor’s Secret airs at 8 tonight on Lifetime Movie Network; additional showings will air at midnight and at noon tomorrow. In his audioblog entry earlier this week, Nicholas said:
I’m really interested in knowing what you guys think about it. So, I guess after you all watch it on Saturday, then you’ll type in. Then I’ll read that stuff. Then I’ll post another audioblog.
So after you watch it, drop by and let us know what you think about it!
Em said,
September 26, 2009 at 3:32 pm
That picture is desperately creepy. My DVR is trembling with excitement over here.
cheryl peterson said,
September 26, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Not my kind of movie, but my friend is watching it. she likes lifetime. It seems ok, she likes it. I came here to see what else youve been in since Buffy. I MISS BUFFY, especially you and Anya
Miriam Heddy said,
September 26, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Pretty creepy! I realized about halfway into it that the *reason* it was so creepy is because we were forced, as viewers, to be voyeurs like Brent, both by the framing of so many scenes on the computer and by the flashbacks. We were taking Brent’s perspective throughout. Even when we weren’t seeing Brent in front of the computer watching on that small screen, we were still observing the marriage through *our* TV screens, which made Brent more sympathetic because it brought the viewer in as accessory as we peeked into Brent’s head. Almost the entire story was privileging Brent’s POV. I actually like that in crime writers like Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley comes to mind.) But as a woman, it’s disturbing to be asked to identify with the stalker.
So, yeah, it was a bit cheesy, but I liked the camerawork and editing choices.
Adding to the creepy factor was the fact that I was watching ’cause I like watching Nicky. So it was really hard to distance myself from his POV and from reading him as hero rather than protagonist. I kept waffling between my meta-narrative sense of, “Hey, hot guy onscreen!” and my reaction to Brent’s skeeviness. (In this, I suspect the movie’d read a bit differently if, going in, you weren’t a fan–or if, say, you were watching it for Ventresca).
On a purely superficial level, I found myself wondering what was up with Nicky’s hairdresser. I kept wanting someone to go up and ruffle the front a bit so it wasn’t flattened. Yes, I said superficial. But hey, I’m the one who asked Nicky at the chat about his wardrobe/hair on Criminal Minds, so these things interest me.
On a believability scale, I was so, so annoyed that Jason didn’t die after that swing with the board. I mean, yes, I did appreciate the way it set up Casey’s accidentally stabbing him, but still. The golf swing to the head was very Misery and visually powerful but less satisfying because it didn’t actually take him out, which made me roll my eyes, because Nicky’s body’s got enough power behind it to knock Ventresca’s head off his shoulders with a swing like that. Also on the WTF scale was that weird jogging scene. It *looked* like Brent and Jason were jogging in place, or like Ventresca was doing a slo-mo jog. Not sure why that was, but it was weird. Did they not have the money for some non-stationary camera work?
Anyway, go Nicky! It takes skill to turn earnest sweetness into creepy evil misogynist bastard. I just am shaking my head now about the fact that I had to actually watch a cheesy Lifetime movie just for the eye candy. At least it wasn’t all weepy chick flick, so thanks for that!
BabyBlue5 said,
September 26, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Very entertaining movie. It had one of the best opening and end sequences to a movie I have ever seen. It really was unpredictable and it kept me guessing throughout the movie. I didn’t know what was going to happen. It’s been a while since I’ve felt that way about a movie. All of the cast were great. I enjoyed Chandra and Vincent’s performances. But I have to say, Nick, you really hit this one out of the park. I was very impressed. That character you played was frightening. I hated your character for what he was doing but for some reason felt empathetic about him being turned down by Casey after his horrible plan to destroy Jason and make Casey feel like crap so he could take her for his own. His plan pretty much worked until Casey turned him down. I don’t know how it could be possible for me to feel sad for Nick’s character after his character had done all of this but I did. Overall, and no bias included, I feel this is one of the best LMN movie productions I have ever seen. Ever since they started promoting this movie, I have seen my fair share of LMN movies but in terms of entertainment and thriller value, this one takes the cake. Very original script and great directing. I actually plan on watching the midnight airing. I hope this movie opens doors for you Nick as well as your cast mates, script writer, and director. Your character was very believable. That is probably why it was so good. Most movies from LMN have a villian that is a guy who typically is going after a woman for revenge or so forth but this character had so many layers. Anyway, as you do often, I rambled. Great job on this movie. Dare I say one of your best roles besides Xander you have ever done. I miss you on TV or on film. I will be anxiously awaiting your other roles on TV or film. Love you Nick.
Maria Santos said,
September 26, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I’m watching it now. It’s kinda like a Fatal Attraction for the 21st century (thankfully, no boiling bunnies). Nice to see Nick has a wide acting range. Much more impressive that his bad guy role on Without a Trace. This character had more layers and it was interesting to watch his descent into coo coo ville.
I’m glad that this wasn’t the typical Life Time “whoa is my female self. Save me, handsome hero” fare.
Nick does crazy well.
John M said,
September 26, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Fine job, Nicholas! When the movie started I fugured the robbery was really a hit, but your performance threw me off. Especially the scene in the police station asking the cops to do more. I thought, “Well, I was wrong. He IS a grieving widower. I guess that’s what will set him off.” Then when I saw your character going through the wife’s wallet, even before the camera pulled back to reveal the shooter, I thought, “Well, he got me. Where the script couldn’t fool me, Nick did.” I LOVE when that happens. Great job!
It was a fun movie, and the cast was all very good. But, as usual, you were the reason I tuned in and I’m glad I did.
Ruth said,
September 26, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Hey Nick! Well right now all I can say is, Wow! I was very impressed with your performance in this movie. I definately like seeing you as the lead star in this movie even if you were the bad guy. I really liked how you portrayed this character. I know that probably alot of actors would have gone for the”I’m a devious, manipulative, psycho, bastard” and pulled it off alright, but probably wouldn’t have taken it any farther. That scene where Brent is stealing her husband’s patient information to leak it to the media and he stops to eat a piece of her chocolate cake. I was sitting there thinking, “Oh! This guy is downright certifiable, what a bastard!” But then alot of the time I also kinda felt empathy and sympathy for him, too. I felt like you did a good job putting us into Brent’s head and emotions. I got really amused with Brent’s banter with the computer screen, as well. Another thing is um, I’ve always thought that I would really like to see you as the starring lead guy in a romantic movie/ romantic comedy because of the way you portrayed Xander Harris and his interactions with the girls he cared about. You did that with Brent toward Casey just enough to make him really scary when he snapped. I mean, he seemed as hurt as he was angry and psychotic over being rejected. And it seemed to me that he was that much more unpredictable. So, overall I guess I have to say I don’t usually watch Lifetime movies but I do like the way you play a bad crazy person.
Amy said,
September 27, 2009 at 2:51 am
Creepy, creepy, creepy character, dude. And creepily played, with sensitivity and determination (eep)–kudos.
jsscgl said,
September 27, 2009 at 8:29 am
why is everyone on here writing direcctly to Nick as though Nick reads these posts?
Em said,
September 27, 2009 at 8:35 am
I’m terrible at remembering details after the fact so I made notes while I watched.
Okay, first, they made him rhyme? Really?
Non-ironic laugh at the McDreamy line. That was cute.
You know, when he poisoned the guy he hired to kill his wife, I thought maybe he was just tragically misunderstood. But I knew he was evil when he drank her milk straight from the container. EVIL!
Note to the directors: If you want the ladies to fear the bad guy, you shouldn’t make kissing him look like so much fun.
Should I be finding the color commentary on the voyeur cam as funny as I do? It’s like he’s heckling a Lifetime movie.
When Nick does crazy and evil, he really does crazy and evil. Take note, television academy.
You know, if he were like 70 percent less murdery, I would say Casey should leave her husband and move in with the neighbor. He’d make a good soccer dad. That’s important.
He ate their cake! EVIL!
Goddamn but Nick’s a charming bastard. You know, I get the feeling you could re-cut this movie into a romantic comedy pretty easily. Seriously, if it wasn’t for the music, those fantasy scenes with the backlit hair would be hilarious.
This guy is pretty fucking diabolical for a contractor. Oh, wait.
Ruh-roh. Shot down.
So the husband cheated before? I retract my earlier statement. Brent would only need to be 60 percent less murdery to be a better match for Casey.
Dun, dun, dun. Shot down twice. According to the Law Of Lifetime, one more time and he’ll lose his shit and get stabby.
Aaaand number three. Shit is being lost. Onto the psychopathy.
Okay, seriously, who video chats with their kids from the other room?
Jeez. Doesn’t anyone keep their breakers in the basement anymore?
Yeah, that board totally should have taken his head off Tarentino style. A guy with Nick’s upper body? I don’t buy it.
See the bedroom door? That I buy.
Aaaand the stabby with bonus friendly cutting.
Very nice ending, Mr. De Palma.
So yeah, I lolled, it’s true. But honestly, I don’t watch Lifetime movies because of their edgy storytelling. I watch them because they’re perfect for throwing popcorn at the screen and yelling at the characters. And this one delivered in a major way. Nick’s performance was a departure for the genre, which actually worked in a really weird way, because he was so unselfconsious in the role, it actually came out sort of self-aware which had a cool meta-narrative quality about it when he was being stalkery.
Or basically, what Miriam said. Great flick. Pairs well with Haagen Daaz and jammies.
Miriam Heddy said,
September 27, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Em? Do I already know you? Because I want to have your tragic, treacle-filled Lifetime-quality, snark-babies. SRSLY.
Granted, I already *have* three kids, but that just makes it more fitting. Lifetime presents: The story of two fans brought together by their love of metafandom and Nicholas Brendon.
Nicky, you home-wrecker you!
Oh, and jsscgl asks why we write directly to Nick….
The answer’s obvious. We’re all delusional (fan being short for fanatic, natch), which is why we were rooting for the cake-snatching wife-killer. Duh.
That or we’re writing “apostrophe” (see Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” which begins with a direct address to an absent listener).
Though I tend to subscribe to the former theory, since the “still unravish’d bride of quietness” hasn’t actually done a webcast recently, as has Nicky.
Lexie said,
September 27, 2009 at 4:00 pm
First of all, dude, nice golf swing! Very impressive. Like Em and Miriam already said, there’s no way a guy could survive that shot to the head.
On a more serious note, I thought you did a great job with your performance. You nailed the down right creepy all the way. You even faked me out with your grief and shock over finding out about the death of your wife. I thought that was a great testament to your acting because I felt bad for your character and thought the story was going one way and then realized later that it was much more complicated and your character was much more sinister and crazier than I originally thought.
The best part of the movie was how un-Xander like this role was in the movie. Buffy has been gone for quite some time, but its roles like this that make me realize how talented and versatile you really are as an actor. Not once did I see a hint of any of your past roles in this performance and this is how I rate actors. Its like seeing a new version of yourself every single time. Yeah, there was some serious cheese factor going on in the movie, but it was still enjoyable to watch you in it.
I look forward to many more roles to come. I’m posting this here, not only because you mentioned that you were interested in hearing our thoughts, but also, because this is your website where your fans can gather and enjoy things like this together. So why not just enjoy the experience of being a fan? It’s a great website to do just that, too.
Em said,
September 27, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Miriam, our relationship would best be described by a venn diagram. Ours shall be a forbidden love, but I would have no other meta-fan carry my ovum’s genetically harvested DNA.
Nicholas Brendon: The love that dare not speak it’s name. A Lifetime original movie.
Lydia Cebreros said,
September 27, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Oh my good sweet fancy Moses, that wasuch an awesome movie. I actually bought your performance in this movie. I first heard about this movie coming to this site and boy am I glad I watched it.
At first glance, I felt bad for Brent but as the movie pulled back the layers and more and more was revealed – I was extremely creeped out. I compeltely bought your performance and was able to see past any previous roles you had (you know which ones I’m talking about so we don’t need to go deeper into that) I normally think Lifetime movies are cheesy and melodramtic but this movie was actually compeling.
There were moments where I was laughing but not at something that was generally funny but the kind of laughing you do to protect yourself (I jokingly yelled ‘fore’ when you hit Jason with the 2×4) but that means you did a good job at making Brent a 3 dimentional character. Well done, Nick! Keep up the good work
GimplyGump ? said,
September 28, 2009 at 6:26 am
I liked this, but one observation:
Nick is growing up.
We’re the same age.
Stop It! 8-D
GimplyGump ? said,
September 28, 2009 at 6:34 am
Sorry a typo in the required e-mail box, all fixed now
Kara said,
September 28, 2009 at 7:31 am
I am BUMMED. I discovered Saturday that I do not the Lifetime Move Network Channel. I’ve just the regular old boring one. No evil neighbor goodness for me.
Will this be out on DVD or available on demand. Anyone know?
Kara said,
September 28, 2009 at 7:32 am
Typos. Woops.
I do not have the channel it aired on, sadly. I have the regular one. Boo.
kerinda said,
September 28, 2009 at 6:03 pm
hey I just loved it so creepy so good I cant wait to see agin got it taped so did anybody else tape it just wanted to know?
Francisco said,
September 28, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I watched the ending. You were more funny than scary, to me. It would be cool if you star in a major motion picture.
LGB said,
September 29, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Letting those people in the US know, this movie is now on Itunes. It’s $3.99 and you can watch it forever
Erin said,
October 12, 2009 at 11:25 am
Hooray! My dvd finally came from the U.S (shout out thanks to Pat in Denver) and I watched it this weekend.
Well done Nick for making your usually adorable self so damn evil! That Brent was one messed up guy, but yet still attractive. Is it strange that I was still attracted to him after he killed people?
Anyway loved the creepy stalker premise, thought the set up of the whole “I feel your pain so love me” arc between Casey and Brent was great. You could sympathise with Casey that she would turn to someone else when her workaholic husband wasn’t around. Pity that the guy she was turning too was a psycho killer! Hey we all make mistakes you know.
My only criticism (and it is the only one) was that the ending was very abrupt. The film seemed to give us all this tension and build up only to conclude in a very short space of time. Don’t get me wrong the ending was good but I just would have liked to have seen more of a fight scene between Brent, Casey & Jason in the kitchen and then a bit more about why Brent was as possessive and jealous towards women. Maybe they could make a sequel – The Revenge of Brent!!!
BTW I lied I have another criticism, there was no naked, semi-naked or shirtless scenes of Nick – what’s that all about? C’mon Leslie Hope (fantastic job of directing) but you’re a woman too, we wanted to see some flesh.
Anyway I digress, Nick deserves immense praise for portraying a character who has both charm and menace, which let’s face it are the qualities of any decent film serial killer.
That is all from the UK. Take care Nick and see you at Hallowhedon
Erin
xx
Jackie said,
October 12, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Well done Nick. I must say you did an excellent job at being a creeper. A handsome, crazed, murderous creeper at that. There may have been a few times I wish I had been in Casey’s position but, well, then they couldn’t have shown it on television.
I would have to say I agree with most of the criticisms that have already been brought up in this tread; it seemed to end abruptly, your swing should have taken Jason out, yadda yadda. Oh and I loved the coat swing when you were leaving the bar. I haven’t seen anyone do that for a long time; I’ve missed it! Definitely needed a shirtless scene. You should work on that.
That’s about all the comments I have for the movie. You did a great job, and LifeTime and keep doing what they do best; cheesy movies!
Adrienne said,
October 13, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Wow!
That’s about all I can say…
Nevermind, I talk/type too much to stick with one word. Anyway, Nick, that was AMAZING. I just finished watching the movie a few minutes ago. I’ve never seen you play a creeper, except in “The Pack” (BtVS), which was pretty scary. But, with the risk of sounding like a creeper myself, might I just say, you make a pretty sexy killer. (Okay, moving on…)
Brent’s talk with Austin by the soccer field was so sweet, it almost makes us forget about the fact that he’s a murdering stalker… Almost. Very sad to see what he could have had with Gretchen, although it seems Brent was a bit off before his wife even met Sean anyway. That’s me, stating the obvious, I suppose.
Watching and talking to the camera feed from the neighbors’ house like it was a favorite soap opera: very well played. Unnerved me, quite a bit. You’re way too good at being bad!
Plus, slamming down the bedroom door that way—pure awesomeness.
As a side note, terrible as this is to admit this, I have just discovered this site TODAY. I know. That’s fairly pathetic on my part, considering I’m such a big fan, but I’m loving how personal everything is. Very few actors do this kind of thing, and it’s really nice of you. I hope you’re having a fun life, and I hope to meet you someday, ’cause, well, I’m still in love with Xander.
Haha…