The Brittany Murphy Story

Honestly, I don't know how exactly to feel about this cheap TV movie about Brittany Murphy. She was a beautiful, charming actress who I've loved in everything I have seen her in. Her role in Clueless, and the makeover part felt like just a stereotype of that time when the girl was actually pretty even before the makeover. But this movie shows how she wasn't considered "Hollywood" glamorous and how much that affected her. Beyond her films and the knowledge of her untimely death, I don't know much about her life, so that kept me interested in this movie. But the movie continuously tries to paint things in a ridiculous light, I have no idea what they want to tell. Things like the paparazzi twisting narratives and how opportunities are lost due to bad circumstances are good enough to create a compelling narrative but the film is very weird in the way it presents it. The acting is atrocious across the board and that doesn't help when the plot tries to be grey, so we can't really trust anything in it. The film almost feels like an insult to Brittany's memory, the way it portrayed different decision-making in her life. So many things are not touched upon and glossed over, that a lot of things doesn't make too much sense. I'm only giving this rating because it is somewhat of a true story but at the same time, should I give the lesser rating which I would've given it if it wasn't a true story because of how badly it affects that person's legacy?

Before watching the movie I thought all the negative reviews were coming from disgruntled family, or super fans that wouldn't be happy with anything. Boy was I wrong! All the harsh comments were totally deserved. I won't stoop to the level of name calling, but I am empathetic toward those critics. It was a total casting catastrophe. A. Fuller was so far away from resembling Brittany Murphy that it wrecked the credibility of the rest of the movie. I would only recommend wasting the time to watch it if your curious to see how bad it is yourself. Don't don't don't take anything in the movie as factual, and pray that a true biopic is released as soon as possible. I don't know any of Britt's family or friends but I feel terrible that they have to see her defamed so horribly.

R.I.P. Brittany Murphy

Perky student Amanda Fuller (as Brittany Murphy) acts poorly in a high school stage show. Nevertheless, she is seen by a TV ad producer and quickly becomes successful making commercials - they say it's because she looks average. Hoping to become a real actress, Ms. Fuller demands single mom Sherilyn Fenn (as Sharon) move from New Jersey to Los Angeles, CA. Very quickly, Fuller's "Brittney" lands a guest-starring role on "Murphy Brown" - then, she is off and running. Now a big TV star, "Brittney" wants to be in films. So, she becomes a sensation in "Clueless". But all is not well. Fuller's "Brittney" receives a smile from a young model-type hunk on the set, but he calls her a "chunky monkey." In spite of her pounds, Fuller lands in bed with hunky Adam Hagenbuch (as Ashton Kutcher)...

Photographers swarm around "Brittney". One of them tells her the paparazzi are not real friends - that's quite a revelation...

The "Clueless" star eventually learns photographer Eric Petersen (as Simon Monjack) was correct. Over the years, they become chunky chums. All of it ends up in the teaser scene we see opening this movie. We're told this TV and film star was possibly poisoned. Yet, during the running time, there is no poisoning. That's fine, but don't suggest it again in the closing. One of the big problems with this biography - and there are many - it that the star is the most uninteresting character in the drama. Her mother and "Simon" are more interesting. Director Joe Menendez and his crew occasionally move the players around well, but it's all episodic - there is no connecting tissue. The star's rise seems to happen overnight, and no particular skills are shown. We are left to wonder why this person warranted a movie at all.

** The Brittany Murphy Story (9/6/14) Joe Menendez ~ Amanda Fuller, Sherilyn Fenn, Eric Petersen, Adam Hagenbuch

Saw this film tonight on TV and decided to watch it because I am big Brittany Murphy fan. I watched the entire movie and was blown away.

The actress looks and acts nothing like Brittany Murphy in anyway. I doubt if you could hire someone who could do justice to Brittany's magnetism on a small budget, but you could at least hire an actor with a similar face/body shape. My god, I shouldn't have to keep reminding myself that this is supposed to be Brittany Murphy on screen.

The actor playing her husband was creepy as all hell, when he came on screen i though "okay, this is clearly the manipulative creep in the story" and it seemed like it was going that way. Nothing really came out of that though, so why hire an actor that the audience dislikes the entire time he is on screen? The intimate scenes were disturbing!

This movie was made in 2014, and yet they leave her extremely suspicious death to 4-6 minutes of screen time? followed by a direct quote from Wikipedia as a epilogue?

Rest in peace Brittany, I'm sorry they did this to your life story.

Finally, a Lifetime Original Movie achieves Ed Wood-Tommy Wiseau levels of awfulness. The Brittany Murphy Story isn't merely offensive to Ms Murphy's fans, or to lovers of good biopics; it's awful on any level you can name. This movie features production values lower than you'll find in most home movies, and dialogue pulled from a Victorian melodrama (example, the line "broken hearts strewn on both sides of the Atlantic" -- really!).

Amanda Fuller looks and sounds nothing like Ms Murphy, but that didn't stop the producers from casting her. Sherilyn Fenn answers the obscure question "what happened to the hot girl from Twin Peaks" with a firm "Believe me, you don't want to know." The Simon Monjack character vacillates between deserving a halo, and deserving a long stretch in Leavenworth.

I can't remember having more joy watching a DVD, but then again, I have a strong streak of masochism.