In Seattle, Washington, ambitious "Brunel Global Securities" executive Currie Graham (as Victor Sandeman) proposes to merge with another company. When owner Don MacKay (as Raymond Brunel) declines the offer, Mr. Graham decides to murder the leader. Graham carefully plots the older man's demise, but has a fender-bender with attractive paralegal Natasha Gregson Wagner (as Christine "Chris" Sternwald) en route. "The Accidental Witness" unwittingly causes Graham's plans to unravel. Complimented by a tight plot (by Michael Rhodes) and pulsating score (by Brent Belke),director Kristoffer Tabori and the "Lifetime" TV Movie crew make this an engaging thriller. Graham's performance holds it together.

****** The Accidental Witness (4/17/06) Kristoffer Tabori ~ Currie Graham, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Aaron Pearl, David Lewis

***SPOILERS** Having gotten wiped out in the latest stock market crash Brunel Global Securities' top honcho Victor Sandeman, Currie Graham, is desperate to get his boss Raymond Brunel, Don Mackey, at the firm to merge with the O'Neil Banking Conglomerate.

Not going along with Sandeman's hair-brained idea has unknowingly put Raymond Brunel's life in danger. Setting up an elaborate plan to knock off the old guy and get his not so on the ball grandson David(David Lewis),whom he can easily manipulate, in charge has Sandeman put that plan into motion the very next evening.

After murdering Raymond, by smashing his skull in, Sandeman stuffs his body in his car and plans to set it on fire with Raymonds body's propped up on the front seat. Just one small and insignificant thing happens to scudded Sandeman's perfect murder plan. He had a fender-bender accident with young paralegal Christine Sternwald, Natasha Gregson Wagner, and everything went down hill for him from that point on.

Having gotten a good look at Sandeman's face, who impersonated the dead Raymond Brunel, Christine could very well connect him to Raymond's murder! And this is something that Sandeman, in being thrown behind bars for the rest of his life, couldn't and wouldn't accept! To the point of shutting up Christine for good!

At first terrified in losing his home and car, due to bank foreclosures, and then his freedom, in the murder of Raymond Brunal, Sandeman goes all out to first find where Christine lives and then, like with old man Brunal, murder her. Sandeman being the loser that he is screws up every time in his efforts to murder Christine leading to his free falling demise at the end of the film.

Breaking into Christine's apartment Sandeman brutally murders her room-mate Maggie Wexler (Enid-Raye Adams),thinking that she's Christine, by mistake! This turns on Christine to the fact that someone's out to get her and checks out this Raymond Brunal, through his car registration, finding that he's not only dead but at least 25 years older then the man, Sandeman, she saw at her fender-bender accident.

Getting more desperate and crazy by the minute Sandeman blows his cover and come out in the open to get rid of this pain in his butt, Christine Sternwald, once in far all. As you would expect Sandeman screws himself up, after murdering a police detective, again and this time for the last time in the movie.

It seemed so easy for the butterfingered Victor Sademan to kill people who, at the time he killed them, were no threat to him at all even the cop, Curtis Ahenakew, who had no idea of what crimes Sandeman committed! For all the cop knew Sandeman was only guilty of breaking and entering! But when it came to to killing Christine Sternwald whom he was really after Sandeman, instead of blowing her away, went into this long song and dance act about his life experience's, as if Christine was his psychiatrist, giving the police and Christine's boyfriend Jeff, Aaron Pearl, enough time to come to her rescue.

I thought the plot of this story was pretty good, except for the motivation of why this guy goes nuts and starts killing people. Stress and pressure from the office and money issues don't cut it.

Also, the decision to merge with another company I'm sure wouldn't be just between two guys -- surely the grandson would have known and other people at the company.

I don't think that Natasha is a very good actress. I think she has limited range and some of her line readings were awful. She's very pretty and looks very much like her late mother Natalie Wood, but she didn't inherit her mother's talent.

Also, she didn't seem all that broken up about her beloved friend and roommate being killed -- going back to work the next day after three hours of sleep and barely acting like anything is wrong? Hmmm! The rest of the cast was talented. Twas for the most part entertaining.