User Reviews

"Mind Over Murder" was based on the clever idea of an assistant district attorney's psychic gift of reading other people's minds. After she takes a tumble and hits her head on the ground, Holly Winters instantly discovers her new ability and puts it to good use in a murder trial.

At the outset, Holly does not have any hard evidence against the corrupt Senator Sinclair. But with the help of her colleague Max, Holly is able to piece together the story of the unfortunate demise of Kathryn Lynn Davis, who was having an illicit affair with Sinclair.

The most memorable character in the film was the psychic named Madame Espy, also called Madame Moonbeam and Ms. Spooky Pants. Holly and Madame Espy team up to enable Holly to trigger the psychic memories that will help her to reconstruct the crime scene.

The film was successful because it never took itself too seriously. The subplot of Holly's affair with Grant Rogers was the only weak link in the screenplay. It was never convincing that Holly would be involved the same kind of tawdry relationship that was at the heart of the philandering senator's dilemma.

The performances were solid and there was excellent location footage in this stylish made-for-television drama with a sly sense of humor.

At first, I thought Mind Over Murder was a remake of the excellent 1979 movie by the same name but this 2005 offering is different. The lead character played by Tori spelling whose acting seems to have improved over time. She plays a prosecutor who after having an accident gains the ability to read minds. This is a fun murder mystery that is easy on the eye and the brain. All the actors are likable if not a little predictable, but this is not meant to be Silence Of The Lambs or Seven. This is a movie that you can curl up on the couch and watch to while away a lazy afternoon.

The drawback is that comedy, drama, and suspense are merged into one film with a romantic subplot between Tori as the lawyer and Dean as the detective, hand tailored for their off-screen affair, have all been mixed together in a recipe which might teach us too many cooks spoil the brew. I found the ending to be surprising and quite suspenseful since the real guilty party for the murder of an aide to a senator turned out to be nobody she was reading the minds of after her accident. For a second in her flashback the culprit looked like Dean McDermott! It made the ending even more surprising.