‘Ruby Herring Mysteries: Prediction Murder’ unexpectedly draws you in despite being unironically hammy
Spoilers for ‘Ruby Herring Mysteries: Prediction Murder’
The ‘Ruby Herring Mysteries’ series on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries has been, for the lack of a better word, formulaic. The eponymous character was first introduced in January 2019 in ‘Ruby Herring Mysteries: Silent Witness’. September that year saw the second edition in this series: ‘Ruby Herring Mysteries: Her Last Breath’.
Taylor Cole’s portrayal of the newscaster-super sleuth Ruby, despite a general hammy air present throughout ‘Ruby Herring Mysteries: Prediction Murder’ and the previous editions, has always been one of the film series’ stronger suits. Cole is a Hallmark veteran. As is Stephen Huszar, who plays Detective Jake Killian, a cop who loves to bake during his free time. The attractive onscreen duo shares banter that often seems a little too practiced, but generally, it’s not unbearable to watch.
‘Prediction Murder’ begins with a psychic medium getting shot at point-blank range by a customer. How the psychic did not see that coming is the first question that comes to mind, but one can’t really let things like that bog the story down, can they? Cut to five years later: Ruby, who has now been promoted to her news channel’s crime division, receives a cryptic poem from what one can guess is the murderer of the aforementioned psychic.
While juggling workplace sexism from a bitter male rival who thinks Ruby’s success has been nothing but dumb luck, and the opportune return of her ex (Clayton James) -- they ended things on their wedding day -- a god-brother who has developed a serious crush on the police force’s new ballistics expert, good old Ruby tries to solve a case that has been cold for half a decade.
The culprit always seems to have an eye on Ruby wherever she goes. The suspects have obvious motives. And Ruby has unparalleled access to the crime scene, suspects, and case details as compared to any crime journalist in the history of crimes and journalism. Yet, despite all the obvious tropes of the film, there is something that makes you warm to it. Yes, it’s a run-of-the-mill thriller. But sometimes, that’s all you need. It’s why we watch procedurals or read ‘The Hardy Boys’ or ‘Nancy Drew’ as kids, and why we love a story that ties up neatly in the end.
And all the while, there’s some rise in the sexual tension between Jake and Ruby. As another psychic nay “intuitive advisor” in the film told Jake, there was a woman who made him smile, but there was also competition (aforementioned ex). In fact, by act six, things were heating up on both fronts. Again, there’s something comforting about seeing a good old fashioned love triangle with feelings spilling out here and there. It’s almost high school-esque and it’s way too much fun to observe. I mean there is a whole prom-night-with-corsages thing going on.
Even the dialogues, if a little ham-handed, are enjoyable. Comparing exes to “fish and chips”, an unforeseeable ‘Star Trek’ reference, even faux-menacing creeps being lecherous and sexist at the same time; everything is a little overt. But in a world full of post-post-modern humor, meta jokes and ironic pastiches, the sheer unironic aura of this film is almost endearing.
And as much as there is a “this movie should have been called ‘Ruby Herring Mysteries: Predictable Murder’" joke to be made, the movie keeps the mystery going on till the very end. It’s not the best of thrillers (the thrills were a little scarce), but it’s also not the worst. It’s one of those movies that you watch when you don’t intend to invest too much, but end up getting sucked into it just a little bit.