Amerikas meistgehasste Frau

Unfortunately, the film collapses under the weight of its own subject, which is a shame because it wastes a great performance from Melissa Leo and also the story is fascinating.

My god whoever did the wardrobe and makeup should be fired. Poor Melissa Leo is not fooling anyone with her wigs and fake belly.

The director, who was also the co-writer, seems overwhelmed with so much information (the film is only an hour and a half and it could've been more). All the actors, beside Leo, are terrible and wasted.

I would love to see this subject in the hands of a capable director. It could've been so much meatier.

Melissa Leo is a great actress. Madalyn Murray O'Hair, as presented here, was not a likable person. Coming from the fifties as she did, the ugliness she was subjected to, just as with the civil rights movement, would tend to make anyone re-act like a snarling badger. She was the point of the spear in the fight against the religious tyranny that is, and has always been, right around the corner. The right to say: "I don't believe it and you can't make me." was fought for and should not be taken for granted. A very American story in every detail. In the beginning, I got the feeling it was going to have a 'Coenesque' flavor to it. If the same thought occurs to you, dismiss it. It's a dramatized bio rearranged to feel like a thriller.

With poor acting and an extremely confusing script, the most hated woman in the United States tells the story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, president and founder of the American atheist association, focused on her kidnapping in 1995. The ill-executed direction of the film portrays in a poorly planned manner the events preceding and explaining the abduction as well as the period in captivity the atheist activist and his family. When finished watching the film, the spectator can not visualize in detail neither the life of Madalyn nor his kidnapping. Badly made scenes of action, weak dialogues and a dubious photograph characterize this film that, unfortunately, does not live up to the importance of the figure of Madalyn and its history.

The directors seemed to enjoy making this movie, for sensational reality that was this woman's life, and sad death; and was probably highly profitable in certain markets. But as a stranger to the story, I could tell straightaway this can't have been all there was to her, as to take up such a fight was more than just hubris. And this movie reeks of the directors' hubris. All points to everyone else that gave stellar quality to a poor artistic effort.

The subject matter is interesting - it's about the woman who led the charge to make sure that state and religion were separate. She was an atheist, but in many ways, she was fighting for freedom of religion. However, this movie takes a very comedic tone to it all, and it covers so many landmark events in her life. So in the end, it feels more like a quirky montage of her life than anything that carries real emotional weight.