Rivals

Now, there are thousands of murders a year. And very violent ones. And this was a brutal murder, but my question is. Why would the mother of Laurie Show let them do a movie about her daughter's death? And of course I'm sure that they embellished a bit with the story. But it seemed pointless to me.

The movie is good. The actors did a good job. It's just the concept of the story that bugs me.

7/10

The problem with this TV-movie, to paraphrase Dr. Johnson, is not that it is done so badly, but that it is done at all. Years ago a movie about the type of crime depicted here might have been unique and intriguing. Sadly for both society at large and the TV viewing public, it's all too commonplace now. There have been at least a dozen movies on this same subject. This film may be worse than some and better than others, but it does nothing to distinguish itself from the pack. After seeing so many similar flicks, some stock characters emerge. Of these, the terrorized victim and her mother aren't drawn too badly, but the closet psycho-homecoming queen is not as compelling as that character should be, in this viewer's opinion. And her oafish boyfriend is so shallow that he's a major irritation every time he's onscreen.

There are no laughable performances here, and the direction is at least competent, if not distinguished. Even Jennifer Salt's script is not a bad one, but she fails to convince us why we should want to watch these unpleasant characters. If you think you've seen one too many stalker movies, this certainly isn't the one that's going to change your mind.

this is a really good movie if you think of it as a fictional story and enjoy made for television movies. although only fragments of the story actually relate to the true case which i found kind of ridiculous. but it's good if your just looking for a interesting story line.

This true story is a modern, moving masterpiece. We see the life of Laurie Show (the delightful Jennifer Finnigan) get turned into a one way street to hell when she mixes with the 'popular crowd' only to find them to be deluded and physcotic.

The acting and writing is superb and the film maintains a believable, camp appeal,0 although sometimes it borders a non-realistic horror film.

Based on a true story, popular and volatile Michelle Lambert (Marnette Patterson) befriends shy Laurie Show (Jennifer Finnigan). One night, Michelle's boyfriend Butch Yunkin (Rel Hunt) rapes Laurie. Michelle is pregnant by Butch and starts harassing Laurie.

Marnette is good as a jealous psychopath. Jennifer Finnigan is good at playing fragile girls, but she's too mature for the part. She needs to be younger and weaker. She really needs to play up the victim role.

The other problem is the quality of the production. This is strictly movie of the week quality. The directions and the style have nothing behind it. The best thing in the movie are the two harrowing performances, but it just couldn't elevate the movie from its melodramatic roots.