Murdaugh Murders: The Movie

As a southerner, it's hard to concentrate on a film that uses non southern actors who try to talk southern. The problem is that from Texas to the Carolinas, each community sounds different. But, non southern actors try to pretend to be southern with same accent no matter where in the South the story is supposed to be located. It is like saying that someone from Boston sounds like someone from New York City. It causes a distraction that is hard to overcome, no matter how hard they try. That assist, this 2 parter is ok. It is a good attempt to tell this story of an American tragedy and a family gone wrong.

It is difficult to believe that anyone believes Bill Pullman did a great job with this. Murdaugh was 53 was he committed the murders; a robust, vibrant mover and shaker. Pullman was in his late 60's when he played this role. I don't know if Pullman is really a shaky, doddering old man, but he sure plays one. The squint, the waver in the voice, the "old man" ambling, the slump to the shoulders . . . None of it is age appropriate. My father was in better shape into his early 80's. My father-in-law is 86 and still golfs and works! C'mon - who can believe this is supposed to be Alex Murdaugh? It is difficult to get past the awful acting and see the story. I watched it only because I could leave, do laundry, clean, and come back to see Pullman still trying to pull this off. I also wanted to get the gist of the story, which is the only thing this is adequate for. Save yourself some time. Watch a documentary.

First off I take my hat off to Lifetime Movies for such a great docudrama movie. Although there is a disclaimer at the start of the movie that some of the content has been "reconstructed" I have to say as an avid follower of the actual case this docudrama has to be around 98% accurate with only 2 sequences that seemed not to be mentioned in the trial. It must have taken a lot of soul searching for the producer(s) to show the actual shooting as none of the documentaries I have watched show the actual shooting except in "cartoon" or "model" mode. Bill Pullman is excellent but so are the other supporting cast. I really enjoyed this move and at 2 x 1.30 Hours Long it never seemed that. It comes highly recommended if you are interested in true crime and the Murdaugh storyline.

I have followed this case from almost the beginning starting with the boat crash. I live in Ga & so there was coverage about the boat crash....don't think it was national news at that point. Then came the murders & it became national news & then I really became intrigued. If you really want a thorough, deep dive into this case....go listen to The Murdaugh Murder podcast episodes.

Maybe I was spoiled by that podcast, and I realize this was basically a 3 1/2 hour movie but it glossed over important elements. And as much as I like Bill Pullium, he didn't really capture the man. And I got distracted by no one pronouncing Murdaugh correctly. As I said, it was just average & opportunity was missed to make a much better movie.

I first watched the Netflix series and followed this case and I think lifetime did a great job on this series. More specifically, Bill Pullman stole the show! If you've seen as much footage as I have on Alec Murdaugh you'll notice that Bill Pullman has all his mannerisms down to a Tee! Right down to the way Alec would rock back-and-forth when he was being questioned, to his accent, etc. Knowing all the details of this case, it is nice to see it portrayed so well. The actor that played his son Paul did a really great job too, as well as his wife Maggie. I like the way the series pulls all the information you learn about Alec through the court cases and puts it all together. There's so many crazy details in this story that it almost seems too crazy to be true, but it is. If you haven't watched anything on this family tragedy yet I suggest first watching the Netflix series.