Of Murder and Memory

11 out of 12 Jurors found her guilty. She may not have pulled the trigger, but she was an accomplice. Guitly, Guilty Guilty.. What about Larry and his family? What do you suppose this is doing to them right now having this come up again? And this Author is making money off her book and TV movie on the crime. Will the movie focus on what kind of family the Haskers had or will it focus on what a terrible break the killing couple had, that they got caught. Haven't you heard? All the convicts in prison are innocent and they will tell you that if you ask them. maybe we should let all of them out? What about donating this money to the victims family and not spend time buttering up to a criminal. I read part of the book, what a crock of Sh--.

Unfortunately, that's not me, so I got 15 minutes in and called it quits.

Directors who over-employ this technique of wobble-cam must really hate their writers, actors and audiences.

Though saddled with some of the usual Lifetime quirks — a ridiculously generic title and a couple of sappy soft-rock songs towards the end — "Murder on Her Mind" is actually a quite good thriller. Its real theme, told vividly, is what makes good women fall for bad men and why do some such women escape their abusive partners while others let their men lead them into depravity and crime. The script by Semi Chellas is expert at paralleling the life experiences of Sally and Theresa, and showing that Sally's commitment to reopening Theresa's case is motivated by a feeling of "there but for the grace of God go I." It's a powerful film that triumphs through minor glitches in the execution, and David Wellington's direction is quiet, understated and fully worthy of the story. I especially liked the fact that he was able to get his actors to suggest that they were 15 years older in the modern scenes than in the flashbacks without having them slathered in makeup, just by getting them to change their facial expressions and move more slowly and heavily. Whether this film stays true to the details of the real story on which it's based is irrelevant; the point is that on its own terms it's powerful, moving and emotionally credible drama, the sort of diamond in the rough that makes Lifetime worth watching.

Sally Linden (Annabeth Gish) is an author living with boyfriend Leonard (Callum Keith Rennie) in Canada. Her daughter Aimee (Kristen Hager) is going to college. She is haunted by an old case from 1993 in Hawaii when she was on the jury. The defendant was Theresa Nichol (Chandra West) accused of robbing and killing a man with her husband Vincent (Hugh Dillon). Vincent testifies against her. The judge is skewed against her. Sally was living with her boorish, abusive husband Danny (Gabriel Hogan) at the time. She found parallels between her life and Theresa. She was inclined to acquit but she is kicked off the jury for arriving 5 minutes late. Theresa is sentenced to 30 years and still imprisoned in California. Sally endeavors to reopen the case with the help of lawyer John Emory (Maury Chaykin).

This movie tries a little too hard dealing with guilt and innocence. This story should be a lot more murkier dealing with why she stayed. It should not be an easy answer. At least, it touches on some interesting ideas but it needs to stay within the complexity of the situations. That is where the truly fascinating emotions lie. This movie struggles to rise above its Lifetime TV movie genes. This is a bigger problem in this movie because it is based on a real case. This would be a better movie simply about the murders and the Nichols. All the stuff about the trials, the convictions, and the appeals are better left as post scripts.