Since her days in the Buffyverse ended (see Angel: You're Welcome), actress Charisma Carpenter has kept busy with fun guest spots on TV shows both acclaimed (Veronica Mars, Miss Match) and not-so-acclaimed (Charmed, LAX). Yet her bread and butter has been clunky made-for-cable movies, from rom-coms (See Jane Date) to fright flicks (Voodoo Moon) and turgid thrillers (Flirting With Danger). This time out, though, the execs at Lifetime decided the erstwhile Cordelia Chase deserved a less embarrassing vehicle. It's no surprise that the girl-next-door Carpenter makes a far better victim than villain. But it is something of a shock that Cheater's Club itself is so watchable in such an under-the-top way. With its racy concept and moderate budget, the flick could have been softcore women-in-peril cheese. Instead, thanks to Kevin Commins' sturdy script and Steve DiMarco's solid direction, it serves up a convincing blend of drama and bona fide suspense. Full of complex (at least by movie-of-the-week standards) characters, convincing red herrings and well-laid-out plot twists, Cheater's Club betrays its low budget only in the pervasive Canadian accents of the supporting players; perhaps Ontario offers bigger tax breaks when producers cast locals in bit parts. At any rate, this is a solid genre effort whose stars -- including Krista Bridges as an insufferable attorney and Kate Trotter as a dogged detective -- know how to breath life into potentially stock characters. It would be nice if Hollywood could find better uses for an actor with Carpenter's talents and built-in audience, but in the meantime she could (and has) done a lot worse.
