A Arma de Lizzie Borden

The true story of Lizzie Borden (Christina Ricci), a young woman tried and acquitted in the 1892 murders of her father and stepmother.

My rating on this film is a bit lower than it possibly should be. Honestly, the only reason it is not better than it is stems from the limitations of being a made-for-TV movie. The budget is limited and other matters may be truncated or simplified. But you have to give them credit, because despite the limits everyone gave 100% and we even get decent gore.

Most interesting, at least to me, is how the writer tried to stick to the historical record. Maybe not perfect (what is?), but where the film could have been sensational, it instead follows the more or less true story of the murders and trial. The "whacks" are not 40, and even the death locations match the known photographs.

You probably know the "Lizzie Borden took an axe" children's rhyme and wondered where it came from. This movie tells the story of the real crime that formed the basis of the rhyme.

I was quite surprised that the actual case took place as recently as 1892. The rhyme had always seemed very traditional to me; I thought it must have been based on something a very long time ago.

Thankfully, the sound track was used at only half a dozen places in the film, because it was so inappropriate that it could easily have ruined everything. While the story took place in a sedate New England town, where people lived genteel lives, sipping tea and wearing frock coats (think Anne of Green Gables), the sound track was screaming rock. Unbelievably jarring. Even in a party scene where people were dancing whatever they danced in those days of long gowns--waltzes, I suppose--it was portrayed minus the sounds of the party, minus the music that would have been played there, all replaced with a nerve-jangling sound track of rock music. Whoever made that decision should find another field to work in. Horrible.

"Lizzie Borden took an axe, Gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one."

Closely follows the real story, as well as being an adequate remake of the 1975 TV version with Elizabeth Montgomery in the titular role. (Her performance was much more nuanced and provided significant ambiguity regarding Lizzie's actual guilt.) Christina Ricci is in fine form; the locations and costumes are accurate to the period; and overall, it should have been a good movie. The operative here being "should"......

However, the movie has been trashed by a nerve-wracking soundtrack. The utterly incongruous heavy rock music is totally inappropriate! This is NOT a movie meant to have a contemporary "feel" to it! It's like trying to watch Swan Lake with the soundtrack from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Whoever decided this was the way to go for a period movie had rocks in their head!

My wife and I both enjoyed this movie, and she had just recently read a book on the case. The story was well-told and left open for interpretation, for most of the movie, to whether she was guilty or not. The acting was excellent and the period costumes were as well. However, whoever allowed this soundtrack to be used tried their best to ruin the whole experience. I don't think a thriller/mystery set in 1892 should have 21st-century electric/amplified rock music inserted, especially in the first half of the movie. To have a scene or a transition of a movie set in the 1890's interrupted by an amplified guitar and keyboards with the nauseating "Oooooo, boy!" was not only ridiculous, after a while we started laughing and wondering when the next inappropriate music would come bursting in. Overall, however, it's a very good TV movie.

Lifetime TV movie about the murder trial of Lizzie Borden. I think we're all pretty familiar with the case so I won't go over that part. Basically, Lifetime takes the Lizzie Borden story and adds sex appeal and rock music. It's pretty silly at times but entertaining enough. Christina Ricci's performance borders on campy which probably helps the movie more than harms it. Having seen and read quite a bit over the years about this case I know they played fast & loose with the facts, as just about any movie does with historical events. Although I could be wrong and Lizzie did, in fact, show off her cleavage and go to raves. Maybe historians just don't want us to know the ugly truth. If this were a theatrical release I would rate it lower. But since it's made for television, it's actually above par. If you can find it you should definitely check out the 1970s TV movie with Elizabeth Montgomery called The Legend of Lizzie Borden. It's much better and you can enjoy it on a serious level without the giggle factor this version produces.