The Girl He Met Online (2014) Reviews

• Inaccurate portrayal of bipolar

  mercedesah2017-02-24

  What the character portrays is more like borderline personality disorder, not bipolar, and many people with borderline aren't like that, I speak from experience with both. Borderline is a wide range of different symptoms coming from childhood pain, some are more normal and functional, some are less. People who have bipolar are mostly not so violent, just feeling up and being creative, or depressed maybe creative, sensitive, intelligent, sleep issues, sometimes normal. Maybe can have trouble handling their emotions but I think majority do not kill or harm or else the world would be even crazier. I hope many people know that many people who've had bipolar have contributed greatly to humanity in all disciplines. People with borderline are also intelligent, creative, sensitive, etc. They all just need help, understanding, compassion, nonjudgement. Either way, people need to learn and get educated about mental health. It seems horrible to make a movie that is so misinforming. Another comment suggested a disclaimer and educational information aired before and during commercials.

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• So Many Coincidences

  JSplend9542014-02-10

  The Girl He Met Online is a suspense/thriller starring Yvonne Zima as the girlfriend and Shawn Roberts as the boyfriend. At the beginning of the movie, we get a glimpse of Zima's unpredictable behavior as she maliciously destroys her ex-boyfriend's townhome. Zima stole the show as she played the perfect female villain. She kind of reminded me of "the wicked evil woman" that was on a daytime soap opera, and you just couldn't wait to see what she would do next. She was cunning, calculating and ruthless. Whoever got in her way "Lookout", it was serious payback time. Zima played this character with the perfect temperament as she didn't get extremely vulgar, but you can just see her plotting her next move. I have never seen a movie with so many coincidences. I thought that was good and bad. It certainly built some drama and had your attention, because those moments had you guessing what Zima's character would resort too. Since this was a "Lifetime" Movie, I actually thought they may have Robert's character start a relationship with his (ex) girlfriend's mother. Thankfully, that didn't happen, as it would have ruined the whole movie. When the movie was over, I asked myself this question - "If this was playing in the cinemas would I pay the price of admission to see this movie", and the answer is absolutely "YES".

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• Surprisingly sympathetic villainess

  mgconlan-12014-02-09

  "The Girl He Met Online" turned out to be surprisingly engaging even though it was very much to the Lifetime formula - one of those in which Christine Conradt was not involved directly but it's clear the people who were have absorbed her plot templates and situations and know how to crank these things out at least as well as the Old Mistress. The directors (plural) were Curtis Crawford (in previous productions he's been Curtis James Crawford) and Anthony Lefresne (though CRAWFORD's name was in BIG LETTERS across the screen and Lefresne's was in tiny type below it) and the credited writer was David DeCrane, but overall it's pretty much a chip off the old Christine Conradt block. When the movie starts we see the girl some poor sap is going to meet online, Gillian Casey (played by Yvonne Zima as a blonde, though otherwise with the same kewpie-doll appeal of Rose MacGowan in the first "Devil in the Flesh" movie from 1998 and Jodi Lyn O'Keefe in the 2000 sequel), trashing the home of her previous boyfriend, spray-painting everything in sight she can't render totally nonfunctional (like his TV - she sprays the letters "TV" behind where it used to be - and his stereo). We get the point immediately: this is a girl that doesn't take rejection well. What's most interesting about "The Girl He Met Online" is that David DeCrane gives Gillian such a hellish background - her real parents died in a car accident when her age was still in the low single digits, and she and her sister Bethany (Tara Spencer-Nairn) were adopted by Agatha Casey (Mary-Margaret Humes), who made it clear to Gillian throughout her childhood that she never loved or cared about her and the only reason she adopted her was she wanted to raise Bethany and the adoption agency insisted that the sisters come as a package deal. Gillian has literally slept her way into a nice job as receptionist with an OB-GYN, Dr. Harris Kohling (Gary Hudson), who insists on her performing sexual services for him whenever his wife is out of town, which seems to be a lot. But that hasn't stopped her from trying to land a rich guy whom she can get to marry her and Take Her Away from All That. Her current target is Andy Collins (Shawn Roberts, at least marginally cuter than most of Lifetime's leading men), who works for a software company founded by his father and managed since dad's death by his mom Susan (Caroline Redekopp), and whose sister Heather (Samantha Madely) is also a major player in the firm. Most of the film is taken up by Gillian's intense pursuit of Andy and her ability to look normal and even genuinely charming when she's on her best behavior, though as the plot progresses the obstacles start to trip her up and writer DeCrane seems to go out of his way to put Gillian in contact with people who can expose the worst sides of her character. What I liked about "The Girl I Met Online" was the writing of Gillian's character - though Curtis Crawford and Anthony Lefresne are hardly in Alfred Hitchcock's league as masters of suspense (nor is DeCrane anywhere nearly as good as the writers Hitchcock used), they do manage to play the double game Hitchcock pulled off in a number of his films: making the villain, if not sympathetic, at least attractive and put-upon enough we're kept hoping he - or, as here, she - will get away with it even as we know his or her actions are evil and she deserves arrest and punishment.

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• The girl he met online misrepresents people with bipolar disorder.

  natew38002014-02-23

  I have read the preview information before watching this movie. This movie is misinforming the viewers about those who suffer from bipolar disorder. The villain is supposed to be a young "bipolar woman". First error- people are not Bipolar. They may have Bipolar disorder, but they should not be defined as their disorder. Second, the behaviors that the movie demonstrates as 'Bipolar' are actually characteristic of BPD- Borderline Personality Disorder and ASPD- Anti-Social Personality Disorder. The are similarities between personality disorders like (BPD & ASPD) and mood disorders (Bipolar, SAD, Depression), but the these are not the same disorders. Gillian "the bipolar" is actually portraying serious psychotic behaviors that are typical of BPD & ASPD, but not suffering from bipolar disorder. This movie is horribly misrepresenting all people who have bipolar disorder. It did very effectively stigmatized all who suffer bipolar disorder as psychopaths. Unfortunately the uneducated public will believe this and further their misconceptions towards those with bipolar disorder. If anyone would really like to understand the bipolar disorder or other mood disorders then educate yourselves. There is a vast information base online where you can learn the truth.

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• Entertaining Thriller

  lavatch2016-10-20

  The film didn't pretend to be anything other than an entertaining "guilty pleasure" flic. The focus is on an extremely troubled young woman, prone to rage, violence, and murder. Her relationships begin well, but go sour when her "mean streak" begins to emerge. Actress Yvonne Zima is excellent as the lead, and she carries the film with a multi-dimensional performance. Her character Gillian Casey builds quite a resume of destructive acts against her partners, who are often sleazy characters like her boss, Dr. Harris Kohling, who has made Gillian his mistress. The main plot unfolds when Gillian meets a decent and successful young man on the internet. As the drama unfolds, the major question will be whether Gillian can navigate her way to success with a man who truly adores her. Beyond many cliché elements, such as a string of accidental encounters, the film's most memorable character is Gillian's mother, as performed by Mary-Margaret Humes. The mother was sensitive and caring, yet was constantly on the receiving end of the bitterness and anger of her adopted daughter. Due to Humes' performance, this was a character and a relationship that the audience could really care about. So, the major surprise of the film was a strong interest and development of a mother-daughter relationship. Originally titled "The Girl He Met Online," the film has been re-titled "MSF: Male Seeking Female" for release on DVD. For a low-budget, made-for-television drama, the film was above average. The characters were well developed, the cast was solid, and the dialogue was well-written. And, despite the two somewhat misleading titles, the most memorable part of the film was the inexplicable gulf that divided an extremely devoted mother and her daughter. A good entertainment bargain at a Redbox machine!

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