The Versace Murder

I watched this movie after my interest was rekindled in this tragic story after watching the second season of "American Crime Story". This movie seems to follow the same line without the budget to depict some of the more lavish scenes from both Versace's life and Andrew Cunannan's.

It was worth a watch to me, and if you are interested in the story of this young man who became such a terribly destructive killer of talented people, it may be to you as well.

I do say, that if you want to understand maybe some underlying reasons for what Andrew Cunannan did, then you perhaps want to watch the American Crime Story version. That one does a good job of telling how Andrew was elevated to special prince status in his family by his father, who later deserted the whole family, including Andrew.

As the older sister of a brother who was elevated to this status over all the rest of the family, I can really relate. My little bro was not given the master bedroom, but he was given as many cars as he chose to wreck, was given the best education, while my younger sister and I had to fend completely for ourselves. Both of us sisters did better than him. He got a law degree on Dad's dime and managed to get himself disbarred for embezzling clients' trust funds. He called it "chump change". It was thousands of dollars, and thank goodness Dad had died of a heart attack before little bro permanently disgraced himself. Bro drank himself literally to death because he could not cope with getting a lesser job than law.

He was quite evil and manipulative to everyone in his sphere of influence. That is what comes of being elevated to prince status by a parent. So don't let it happen to your kids. My bro did not kill anyone that I know of, but he hurt, many, many folks on his way down. Don't let your kid become an Andrew Cunannan or even my brother. Treat your kids equally even when you may be inclined to favor one for your own reasons. Please.

I'm very sorry, but this is one weak movie... The actors are really unconvincing, the soundtrack reminds me of a porn movie and the lines the actors have to say are of the level of a soap opera... Don't bother

Of laughter, of course.

I don't think that there are words to describe how bad this movie is, but I'll try.

This movie is about the murder of Gianni Versaci, perpetrated by the serial killer Andrew Cunanan. Anyone not familiar with the newspapers/Geraldo/CNN coverage should know that in 1997 Cunanan killed Versace after having killed a number of his gay associates and passers by, culminating in the murder of the middle aged fashion designer and his own suicide on a yacht. The movie is the recounting of the FBI's hunt for him.

There are problems with this movie, however (understatement of the year).

Number one, the script. Written by Menachem Golam (of Delta Force, Delta Force II, etc. claim), it is wholly ignorant of police/FBI procedure, common sense, or subtlety. Much of the time, FBI agents Stephen Bauer and Renny Roker (relation of Al Roker?), talk _at_ the audience, rather than to each other or the third parties. They're relating information they're both already aware of. Or, they're telling the audience that not all the gay community is bad. The scene near the end, where all the Versace's friends sit around on the steps where he was shot among wilting flowers, was so over the top, hammily, blunt... This finds a hilarious culmination in the closing scene, where they philosophize with each other about the nature of crime and mankind, like they're in an old "Dragnet" episode.

Then, there is Shane Perdue as Andrew Cunanan, who comes across as the brat from hell, rather than a developing serial killer. His way to "emote" his alienation from society and his generally poor attitude is to say "f* you" whenever he's about to steal, kill or smash a tv set. So, after we get the picture, we're treated to his last "f* you" gesture when he kills himself rather than be arrested and says ... (guess what). Also, Shane Perdue doesn't look more than a year out of his teens, even though Cunanan was in his early thirties, which might have been partly the trigger that set him off on his killing spree. Which is surprising, considering he seems to subsist entirely on vodka and speed.

Then, there is the awful, overbearing synthesizer musak that gives the entire first half of the movie the feel of a porn flick.

But lastly, the FBI is so slow witted, they don't follow up or exploit half the leads they have. Why don't they hang a wanted poster in every motel in town, even though they _know_ he has a penchant for going to hiding in hotels, or at friend's places. Also, the briefing they gave to the collected police forces must be the most uninformative in history - which is more a reflection of script writer Globus' ignorance of police procedure and his unwillingness to do any background research. In short, this movie is no "Manhunter" or "Silence Of The Lambs".

This movie, amazingly, has something going for it, though. It is the first serial killer movie about the Versace case. Also, it is so bad, it should get _some_ kind of prize. Unintentionally, this melodramatic piece of tripe had me in stitches by the end.

If you don't pay any money for it, you might enjoy it. Wait for it on cable and view it as a high camp comedy, and you'll be alright with it. :-)

This is hands down the worst movie I have seen in months.

The script flows fairly well except for the fact the FBI always seems to be just one step behind, and I mean ONE step. It gets pretty corny when FBI agents are literally supposed to be 20 foot away but 'Andy' manages to run away.

The acting is just plain horrible. I don't like to poke at specific people, but Shane Perdue has not done another movie (according to the DB) and I think it will stay like that. Even Steven Bauer, who plays the FBI agent, also doesnt deliver the best performance in this flic though I generally have liked his work.

If its on TV - take a look but you'll most likely find yourself deciding who delivers their lines the worst.

I just finished watching this on late night television and I am in awe. I mean, I have seen a few TV movies in my day, but this one almost comes across like a bad satire of TV movies. It is bad in just about every way imaginable.

The music is pretentious, the editing bears the mark of a first year film student, and the acting is horrifyingly bad. At some points this movie heads off following Andrew Cunanan in aimless directionless scenes. It has the characters fighting in swearing fits that come off like children learning the "f-word" for the first time. And every scene, particularly those with the actor playing Andrew Cunanan are stretched out with the most appalling acting I have ever seen. I mean it. Every single line of dialogue is delivered almost painfully. The most excruciating example is the scene at the very end when the two FBI agents have this really presumptuous and pretentious theory session on murder and consumerism. It was truly "crap-tacular".

This movie is a complete waste of time, and unintentionally turns a horrifying true-life story into a sloppy farce. Worse still, I got this impression the film makers were vastly overestimating the importance of this movie in their own minds. This comes off with endless scenes with the various characters where they spout speeches thinly veiled single entendres about their motivations and society. I get the impression the film makers even wanted to make a connection between the glitz and glamour of the fashion world and how it drove Cunanan to kill - except that no viewer is going to buy that the way it is presented here.

If I were Donatelli Versace, I would sue on principle alone just to end TV movies of mediocre quality.