A Killing in a Small Town

I don't know why actor Dennehy is pictured on the poster. True, he's got a feature role that he brings off well. But the film's really a Barbara Hershey showcase. It's she who has to do the dramatic heavy lifting, going from placid housewife to raging inner person. For the ex-Ms Seagull, it's a thespic tour-de-force. Her wife-mother seems so well adjusted, church, family, community, her smile so real. But then, she initiates an affair with a friend's husband, so we know she doesn't always repress her desires. So just how placid is she, really.

The shots of a barren Texas landscape are aptly conceived, mirroring Candy's (Hershey) unchanging demeanor, at least initially. But then her friend turns up dead, slaughtered in gruesome fashion, and we know the landscape is not as predictable as it seems. Hershey's perfect for the part, her youthful good looks beginning to fade into middle-age. Director Gyllenhaal's camera is riveted to her face, catching every nuance, in this gripping study of morbid psychology. No, I don't think the movie suits all tastes since it's really disturbing at a number of points. Still, it remains a fascinating case study, based on a factual occurrence. Too bad IMDb doesn't supply more of those factual details. Nonetheless, I'm glad to stumble across this obscure gem and it's two memorable last lines that sort of sum up the movie's ironic moral.

TV movies usually suck, but this is probably the best one I've seen next to "The Deliberate Stranger". What lies beneath a typical, all-American perfect PTA neighborhood-murder, mayhem, and sin! It is very shocking and suspenseful, and the ending was one of the most unpredictable and shocking I have ever seen! What is more chilling is that this is based on a true story. Barbara Hershey gives a brilliant performance.

I saw this movie since it's release in 1990, I've been amazed by the incredible performance by Miss Hershey, Brian Dennehy is very good too, I think Barbara Hershey is a very underrated actress, I just rented the Entity another of her mind-blowing performances, Killing in a small town, a small budget film but with great acting, I'm going to have to buy the video, 'cause I haven't seen it in video clubs. Thanks for your time

A small town in Texas is in shock after a school teacher is found murdered in her home, whacked 41 times with an ax. Thanks to a plethora of physical evidence, the police soon suspect her friend Candy Morrison (Barbara Hershey). Candy admits she had an affair with the woman's husband (John Terry), but when it comes to trial her lawyer (Brian Dennehy) decides to plead self defense. WOW! This true crime TV movie is absolutely captivating. A big part of that is because of Hershey in the lead role. Already a lauded leading lady in theatrical features, she must have felt compelled to the juicy role in order to move to a TV movie after the success of Beaches (1988). She is absolutely stunning in the lead role (a bit where she is hypnotized by a psychologist played by Hal Holbrook is downright frightening) and she ended up winning both a Golden Globe and Emmy for this performance. Of course, the way the story unfolds is also part of the film's success as the teleplay writers peel back layer after layer. It builds perfectly to the shocking finale where we see the murder as Candy says it happened and the findings of the jury. Director Stephen Gyllenhaal (yes, father of Jake and Maggie) handles it all with the skill of a theatrical feature. A great example of his direction is one long take where the coroner describes the victims wounds while walking around the body and the camera just focuses on his hands; we never see the body in close up, but the description brings up such extreme detail in the minds of viewers.

The film Evidence of Love (UK title) is contextualised within a small-town community. Within this community, their lives are prescriptive, mundane and conservative, (at least from a liberal perspective). This conservative attitude is highlighted in Evidence of Love as a destructive force as it restricts and represses natural human feelings all in the name of stability.Such conditions provide for an undercurrent of extra-marital affairs, lies, denial, and anger, culminating in a (self-defence) killing to emerge like an uncoiling spring.

As to the acting in Evidence of Love, it is a superb (some might argue stereotyped) portrayal of a mid-American suburban home - maker by Hershey. It seems that Hershey uses method acting to achieve her goal in this film. As for the directing, it comes across as very considered and intelligent. This is because the issue is handled without the histrionics that such an explosive subject matter has the potential to cause. Of course the calm direction is helped by the limited budget for the film.

The film itself exposes an interesting moot point of what is perceived as guilty. It seems in Evidence of Love that there is some confusion in the court as what constitutes 'murder'. Self defence using a gun is not considered murder, but an axe that is wielded 41 times to slay an attacker is a matter of contention is this particular murder charge.

For this moot point alone as to what constitutes self defence in a killing Evidence of Love is worth watching.