A Stranger with My Kids (2017) Reviews

• Manny Poppins

  wes-connors2017-06-02

  In her bathtub, a beautiful blonde woman is drowned by a hooded intruder. As she succumbs, handsome killer Mitch Ryan (as Alex Smith) comes into focus, regretfully telling her, "We could have been a family." We're sure he's the obviously deranged title character of the story. Quickly, we learn the murderous young man is a "manny". This fitting term is explained as a combination of "man" and "nanny". It's nice to learn new things by watching TV movies. Mr. Ryan's next job is at the big, lovely home belonging to beautiful blonde Ashley Scott (as Karen Clark). She's a single, working mother of two young boys. After a string of weird "nanny" and "manny" applicants, Ms. Scott happily hires Mr. Ryan. He's very attractive, great with kids, willing to clean her large house, and likes to cook delicious meals. In fact, he sounds too good to be true... Of course, Ryan sets out to become the real man of the house. He's a hard worker. Ryan has an obstacle, however, as Ms. Clark is very seriously engaged with three-years-sober and now responsible boyfriend Woody Jeffreys (as Greg Hitchens)... Director Chad Krowchuk should win you over in his first scene, especially when Ryan exits the crime scene one step ahead of his victim's housekeeper. Two ships crossing in the night, and wonderfully placed. Ryan is quite believable as the psycho killer. Inviting and dangerous, he looks less like an actor having fun and more like a character on his mission. Even when director Krowchuk has Ryan spit in his rival's scrambled eggs, it's played straight. Supporting roles are all engaging. Eyes are drawn upon "hot-to-trot" Jordana Largy (as Cori) and manny-knowledgeable Fiona Vroom (as Gillian). Kid actors Dylan Kingwell and Jett Klyne (as Max and Rex Clark), plus bullying Cory Gruter-Andrew (as Brett Blainesfeld), are stellar. In a fairly substantial part, Dylan demonstrates particularly fine acting. Being called "Maxi-pad" when your name is "Max" has got to hurt. ******* A Stranger with My Kids/Manny Dearest (2/5/2017) Chad Krowchuk ~ Mitch Ryan, Ashley Scott, Woody Jeffreys, Dylan Kingwell

• Very Good Movie

  anneejoseph2017-07-25

  Apart from a few cliché and unrealistic reactions, this movie was a well directed, well executed viewing experience. The plot though common for a lifetime movie, contained creativity. The acting was good and characterization solid. Exciting plot development and a few breathtaking moments. I fully recommend viewing this movie.

• Fun watching a crazy guy instead of a crazy girl

  phd_travel2017-07-24

  For a Lifetime thriller this isn't too bad. There is a predictability to this kind of thriller but here it's quite fun to see how things play out. What is different is that the wacko is a guy instead - a male nanny. It's quite amusing seeing what a crazy guy would to instead of a crazy woman for a change from the usual Lifetime psychopath. Ashley Scott has been doing quite a few Lifetime movies recently and she is quite good here as a widowed mother of two boys who is seeing a man her age. Along come this younger manny who has some need to have family. So of course he bonds well with the kids and tries to get rid of the boyfriend. There are some pretty funny scenes with this female nanny who wants to jump the manny's bones. Worth one watch.

• Sort of like the stepfather

  commish12018-08-22

  Acting was ok, no oscar winners here. Story was similar to the Stepfather series. But zi stil enjoyed it.

• Perfect for a lazy afternoon

  lisafordeay2018-01-22

  A Stranger with my Kids aka Manny Dearest is a TV movie that came out last year and stars Ashley Scott(who was in a film before similar to this) and Mitch Ryan and tells the tale of a single woman who has 2 sons from a previous relationship and is currently in another one with a man named Gregg. Of course Karen(Scott) hires a nanny named Alex (Ryan) who gets hired with minding her kids,but Alex is very supscious who stalks on Karen by taking photos of her,spying on her,sabotaging Karen's relationship all because he is in love with Karen and would do anything to have her for himself. So will Alex kill people to hurt Karen!? Overall I knew what was gonna happen the minute I seen the opening as there was a woman similar to Karen in the opening credits. So why does Alex have a thing for single mothers. Well you have to find out.The guy that played Alex was great and I was shocked he was Australian as his American accent was spot on. 5/10