A Friend to Die For

When Miramount High School cheerleader Kirsten Costas ran across the street from her front yard in Orinda, California in June 1984 having been fatally stabbed by her schoolmate Bernadette Protti and seeking help from her neighbor she probably had no idea that this review would be written. The way it happened was this: Randall Sullivan of ROLLING STONE Magazine wrote a moving article about the case (focusing largely on Bernadette Protti's dramatic confession to the police) that appeared in print about a year after the murder had occurred and was published with the title "Death of a Cheerleader". The story got such attention that Sullivan was hired to write a screenplay for a made-for-t.v. movie after Protti was paroled, depicting the events fictitiously. It was first aired on NBC as A FRIEND TO DIE FOR, but has also been aired on cable television, both under its original title and under the title of the article that inspired it. In the film, Tori Spelling loosely por- trays Costas as snobby Stacy Lockwood; Kellie Martin loosely portrays Protti as Angela Delveccio and Orinda is replaced with the fictional town of Santa Mira, California. The murder is depicted in the opening scene and the action then reverts to the life of Delveccio over the course of about a year. Although she firsts tries to cover up what she did, the depth and sincerity of the remorse that she eventually expresses are very moving. This film is worth watching several times.

I love "Death of a Cheerleader". I caught on TV shortly after it was made and really enjoyed it, but never video taped it and didn't see it again until very recently when I bought the DVD from Amazon.co.uk. I can't believe this movie got a DVD release (it's not even ever been on VHS!) but it deserves it because it's so good.

"Death of a Cheerleader" is about Angela, a high school student who's life goal is to 'be the best' in every possible way. She wants to become one of the 'cool' kids and join the 'in crowd'...she wants to become a member of the snotty, elite social club The Larks, she wants to be editor on the paper, she wants to be a cheerleader...she wants to be Stacy Lockwood. Stacy is everything Amanda isn't, rich, beautiful, popular...she's also a class A bitch and takes delight in constantly making cruel remarks to Monica, a goth girl who everything thinks is psycho and weird just because of how she looks.

Angela wants nothing more than to be Stacy's friend and tries to hang out with her crowd but they just snub her or make little jibes about her being poor...determind to become Stacy's friend, one night Angela tricks Stacy into going to a party with her, but once Stacy discovers neither Angela nor herself were properly invited, she changes her mind and yells at Angela to take her back home. In the end Stacy flips out and screams at Angela, telling her she's weird and a freak. Stacy walks off and finds her own way home, but later when she reaches her house Angela makes one last attempt, begging Stacy to be her friend. Stacy refuses and mocks and insults Angela. Angela, in a fit of rage, stabs Stacy to death with a knife.

Stacy dies, and there is a huge inquiry. Detectives question students, Larks, and all the people who knew Stacy. Everyone in school is pointing the blame towards Monica but eventually they learn who the real killer is and are completely shocked.

Over all, "Death of a Cheerleader" is a great movie. It has a strong script, and realisticly protrays how nasty school girls can be to each other without getting silly or going over the top. The acting from the two leading ladies, Kellie Martin (Angela) and Tori Spelling (Stacy) is amazing, they give brilliant performances. A must see movie!

Kellie Martin did a masterful job playing the role of an awkward teenage girl desperately yearning for acceptance from the "In" crowd in high school. Two scenes that totally sold me on how convincing the role of Angela was played was when Angela was being dropped off for the ski trip and, in front of the other kids, Angela's mother goes to clean Angela's face with a handkerchief. Embarrassed, Angela moves her mother's arm and storms off to collect her bag. As Angela lifts her bag, she looks back to her mother and gives her a classic "Why did you do that, mom?" look that I think only Kellie Martin can make convincing. Finally, after being initiated by the Larks, Angela and the other girls go off driving looking for guys to kiss. Angela gets snubbed as she attempts to kiss an elder gentlemen sitting in his car. Reflecting on her public humiliation, Angela has a heart to heart talk with her sister about her wanting to be someone else. Kellie Martin played the role masterfully!

I think Kellie Martin should have won an Emmy for this film. She plays Angela, a pretty but mousy-type attending a wealthy-area high school. She wants to fit in with the rich, snobby, popular crowd but is not like them herself. She comes from a large, devoutly Catholic family who "have what they need" but little else. Angela tries out for cheerleader and fails, for the Writers' Club and fails, even though she's a good writer, and this destroys her self-esteem. Add to that her wanting desperately to befriend the most popular girl in school Stacy (Tori Spelling), who is also the meanest and snobbiest, and being cruelly rejected as weird. You totally sympathize with Angela and see how she could have been driven to such a desperate act. Martin's riveting performance continues post-tragedy, as you see the guilt eating her up inside. This is truly an awesome made-for-TV movie. I highly recommend it.

Angela Delvecchiois is a young girl who comes from quite a poor family. When she moves to a rich town called Montevista with her family, she of course wants to be accepted and to become friends with everyone, including Stacy, the leader of the most prestigious clique at her new high school. Angela really admirers Stacy. After Stacy makes fun of a strange girl named Monica though, Angela defends her, which leaves Angela becoming Stacys target to pick on. Still wanting to become friends with Stacy, Angela makes up a story in order to meet Stacy. When they do meet, Angela tells Stacy that she really likes her and than asks Stacy to come to a party with her. Stacy refuses and tells Angela that she's going to tell everyone what a weirdo she is. In rage, Angela stabs Stacy with a kitchen knife and ends up killing her. The trial for Stacys death is of course very big, with no one knowing who the real killer of Stacys is and many people assuming it was Monica. All this at first, of course.

Tori Spelling and Kellie Martin play the lead roles here and they both do a great job, especially Spelling. Jenna Leigh Green also has a small role and is good too.

Death Of A Cheerleader/A Friend to Die For is a fact-based movie and it's really good. It just shows what people do just to fit in. I give the movie a 10/10.