Murder in the Hamptons

I read the magazine story on which "Murder in the Hamptons" is based, but alas, when I sat down to watch this movie, I didn't recall much of it. Starring Poppy Montgomery as Generosa Rand Ammon, the movie tells the story of the Ammon family - Ted, Generosa, and their adopted twins - and the horrific murder of Ted in their palatial Hamptons home - a case that stayed open for a long time before an arrest was made.

Generosa is an attractive artist when she meets Ted Ammon and marries him. After a while, it becomes evident that she's wound a little too tightly on one hand and one sandwich short of a picnic on the other. Her paranoia becomes worse and worse as time goes on, and she and Ammon eventually separate as she becomes convinced that he's cheating on her and has an illegitimate child. Neither of which was apparently true. She soon takes up with an electrician, Daniel Pelosi, who is renovating her house. Generosa is presented as an extremely disturbed woman. She emotionally abuses her children, she brainwashes them against their father, and she keeps Ted's sister from seeing the kids. She has surveillance bugs planted in the Hampton house so she can watch all of Ted's activities on a laptop - which after the murder was never found.

Though it's a fascinating case, "Murder in the Hamptons" is the stuff of routine TV movies as it meanders through the story. Montgomery is very good, acting completely normal in her scenes - as a result of her demeanor, one then never knows when Generosa is going to totally lose it, so you're waiting for the next blow-up. The rest of the performances are okay, with the nanny giving an especially chilling performance.

Naturally there are things that were omitted, and for some reason, Pelosi is presented in a decent light. In fact he's a total waste. Also, assuming the will referenced near the end of the movie was filed in New York State - which it was - it's not possible to eliminate one's husband from a will. You can disinherit a child in your will as long as you specifically mention them by name. But no matter what your will directs, your husband is entitled to a third of the estate. So that business was a foolish plot device. Stick to the facts - they're usually more interesting.

I'd waited to see this for ages - heard about it from all my US friends and on various Without A Trace boards and then missed it when we finally got it in the US. Luckily one of my friends sent me it and it was well worth the wait.

Of course, I only wanted to see it because of Poppy, but once I started watching it I completely forgot it was her, I got so wrapped up in the story. I love everything about the story itself, which I guess can't be credited to anyone since it actually happened. I think Poppy did an amazing job of portraying Generosa, though I wasn't surprised at all. She has a great range.

There wasn't a dull moment in the film - it had its funny parts, its sad parts and its downright weird parts. I loved the whole Generosa telling the kids one thing, Ted telling them something else. It was well structured throughout, especially with the different people from the neighbourhood talking about what happened and hearing all the rumours before seeing it all for yourself.

Great movie, I definitely want to watch it again.

I thought this was well made and well acted throughout. How accurate it was I do not know. Poppy Montgomery was excellent in the role of the mentally unhinged Generosa Rand/Ammon. I am not sure the Danny Pelosi character was portrayed as evil as the real person. would also add that the young actors playing the adopted twins were very convincing.

Ambitious Manhattan estate agent Poppy Montgomery hooks Wall Street hotshot David Sutcliffe and is soon manipulating his every move. An outburst in the street should have tipped him off about her red-mist rages but, hey, love is blind. Soon ensconced in his East Hampton holiday home with adopted trophy twins (one of each), Poppy displays traits that are touchy to the point of looney-tunes. A poisonous story of greed and insanely spiteful behaviour which leads to unbelievable resolutions – of course it's true! Poppy is Without A Trace's sweet Sam Spade – here, she's a paranoid narcissist who could be fairly described as a deplorable human being and a despicable mother. Actors kill for this kind of role. And Ms Montgomery is nothing if not determined - like her Without A Trace co-star Anthony LaPaglia, she's Australian, not American. She arrived in California aged 18 carrying a book called How To Make It In Hollywood. By the way, this Canadian-made movie plays on TV in south-east Asia and in the UK as Million Dollar Murder.

A riveting true story. As tragic as this story was, the movie is compelling and very entertaining.