Murder in Greenwich

Rating:
Summary: Powerful and informative
Review: After reading the book (you know the book is always better) I was just sure the movie couldn't live up to that. You do, in fact, get more from the book, but I thought the movie did a fine job telling Martha's story. The way the actress (I can't remember her name) narrated the story as if it were really Martha telling it was very compelling. It sort of drew you in to the story and made it more personal. I found it to be a well-acted and well told story. Thank goodness Mr. Fuhrman did get involved and helped to get this case solved. The one crucial thing that needed to be done was to bring justice to a beautiful young girl and her family and to have her story tastefully told and I think both the movie and the book did just that.

Rating:
Summary: This movie is ok
Review: I have read a lot of books on this case and remember when this murder took place. I was 2 years younger than Martha and have always been intrigued.
The movie was ok. I thought the charactors were well portrayed although it almost made you feel sorry for Michael. I wanted to know more about him.
There was a lot of key elements not mentioned in the movie too. It might have been better if it was longer.


Rating:
Summary: great acting
Review: i was very impressed with this movie. the acting is great and the story is compelling.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good movie
Review: In the early 1970s a young girl was brutally murdered in a wealthy conclave. For 25 years there was a wall of silence around her death, everyone knew who had done it but no one was saying, for the murderer was part of the then fireproof Kennedy clan. For 25 years a mother waited in vain for her daughter's killer to be bought to justice and eventually her patience paid off but not before a lot of dark secrets had been exposed and a lot of people were forced to confront their own ruthless ambitions and indifference to a vicious and senseless murder.

This movie really surprised me. I didn't expect it to be any good but it was such a bargain at 80c I had to buy it!

However I was pleasantly surprised at how good the acting was, and I especially liked the way the Director jumped from the past to the present, to show the audience which way the present day investigation was going.

I wasn't sure how I was going to react to the protagonist, Mark Fuhrman who was the real life racist police officer in the OJ Simpson case, however Christopher Meloni was excellent and gave a good portrayal as a man troubled by his past but moving on from his mistakes for good or bad.

This movie could have been really disjointed; the Director took a real chance and in my humble opinion he did a pretty good job overall.

However I have to say the best part of the film was the narration, done by an unknown actress called Maggie Grace who portrays Martha Moxley in the film. I found it spooky and touching to have the story unfolded before me by the dead girl herself, talking about what had happened to her, and what she might have done in her life if she had lived.

I suspect the movie itself is more of a fairy tale than fact but it was well presented, well acted and was very enjoyable. I do however think the wall of silence that Mark Fuhrman "hit" during his investigation was probably based on fact, no one in the wealthy little town that Martha died in wanted their past dirty linen exposed; least of all those who helped perpetrate the cover up in the first place.

There is also a haunting musical score that links the past to the present, including some great 1970s tracks to separate the two timelines, very tastefully and artistically done for what is obviously quite a low budget film in comparison to the many Blockbusters that are chucked at us nowadays.

A final pointer but poignant pointer is that if Martha Moxley had been Black, I doubt very much if this movie would have been made, because her murder would still be unsolved even now in 2004, the fact she was young, beautiful and white, meant that for her that eventually justice was served.




Rating:
Summary: way too slow
Review: The whole movie centers around the mystery of one girls death, and the on going investigation into what really happened. I had to try very hard not to fall asleep, and watched it with someone else who did fall asleep. This movie is just one big production to give Mark Ferman a big pat on his back for opening up this case to the public eye. If you like long drawn out mysteries, then maybe this is for you, if your looking for a true murder story with a little more interest/action, get vampire clan, Fargo, or Bundy. I gave it 2 stars for what blood and action it did have, which wasn't much. eliminate that one scene, then it is a one!

Rating:
Summary: Martha Moxley Told Straight
Review: Well, this movie just isn't good. All the elements are fairly interesting. There's Kennedy's. There's Mark Fuhrman. There's a true unsolved murder begging for justice. With those ingredients, one would think it would be hard to misstep. But misstep the movie does, telling the story straight ahead with little lent to creativity, little lent to drama. There's just the glorification of OJ-case detective and the unraveling of a mystery that has been unraveled on the 5 o'clock news.

This movie smacks of made for TV and there is a reason for that...it was made for TV. The actor playing Tommy Skakel turns in a fairly convincing performance, he gets to act mysteriously cool throughout the movie with few lines. We don't really get to know Michael Skakel which would have been an interesting angle to spin the tale. The most unique thing of the movie is the narration from Martha Moxley herself, but alas the dialogue is fairly straightforward trite.

We have witnessed the death of the Made For TV mini-series running for consecutive nights or consecutive weeks because who really has the time to make an engagement with one's TV night after night to endure lukewarm dumbed down hack-ery. "Murder in Greenwich," isn't total hack mind you, but it comes awe fully close. Don't be lured in by the intriguing cover in the rental store. Pass it by.
--MMW

Rating:
Summary: Martha Moxley Told Straight
Review: Well, this movie just isn't good. All the elements are fairly interesting. There's Kennedy's. There's Mark Fuhrman. There's a true unsolved murder begging for justice. With those ingredients, one would think it would be hard to misstep. But misstep the movie does, telling the story straight ahead with little lent to creativity, little lent to drama. There's just the glorification of OJ-case detective and the unraveling of a mystery that has been unraveled on the 5 o'clock news.

This movie smacks of made for TV and there is a reason for that...it was made for TV. The actor playing Tommy Skakel turns in a fairly convincing performance, he gets to act mysteriously cool throughout the movie with few lines. We don't really get to know Michael Skakel which would have been an interesting angle to spin the tale. The most unique thing of the movie is the narration from Martha Moxley herself, but alas the dialogue is fairly straightforward trite.

We have witnessed the death of the Made For TV mini-series running for consecutive nights or consecutive weeks because who really has the time to make an engagement with one's TV night after night to endure lukewarm dumbed down hack-ery. "Murder in Greenwich," isn't total hack mind you, but it comes awe fully close. Don't be lured in by the intriguing cover in the rental store. Pass it by.
--MMW