Obsession coupable

An extremely well-acted and well-written film, even more remarkable because the family and events were real. Jeri Lynn Ryan's character, Dawn, sets herself up as a target to catch the criminal who threatens her and her family. William Devane, an actor with an outstanding film and TV career, co-stars as the sheriff who leads the police investigation. Although the film is set in small-town South Carolina, Devane's character breaks down the stereotype of southern police officers. Viewers will cheer Dawn on and marvel at her courage while sympathizing whole-heartedly with her family's plight. The film stays suspenseful to the end.

I lived in Columbia SC when Sheri Faye Smith and Debra Helmick were killed by Larry Gene Bell in 1985, I was 12..I was staying at my grandparents cabin for the summer on Lake Murray when Sheri Smiths body was found behind an old schoolhouse about 2 miles down the road. The flies were so thick that day, and than we heard sirens, my mom made the comment "I hope they didn't find that poor girls body" which of course they had. This movie follows the truth so closely its almost like its happening again. Excellent movie and I recommend it. Larry Gene Bell killed not only Shari but other girls including 11yr old Debra Mae Helmick who lived about 2 miles from were we lived in Columbia before we went to Lake Murray for the summer. I have 3 sisters, Sherri, Debbi and Jean, 2 of which shared the murdered girls names, you can imagine how my parents felt when all this happened. My sister Sherri was 14 at the time and my sister Debbi was 10, both were close in age to the murdered girls also. Larry Gene Bell was put to death Oct 4, 1996 I believe, his crimes will never be forgotten and neither will his victims.

Horrifiic story, of indeed one psychopath, better put six feet under. Solid acting from Devane, obsessed like Doherty was with him, in that tv film. Here, he's a town cop, who heads up this investigation, to retrieve the kidnapped daughter of a South Carolina family, her older sister, a promising beauty pageant queen, and she is beautiful, the focus of this nutter's murderous obsession. A full scale search begins, to track down, the vulnerable diabetic teen. This sick SOB starts calling, taunting the family, builds up a conversational repore with the sister, who she and authorities try to bait this guy, but unfortunately he's very ahead of the game. The actor who does a marvellous job here, looks pretty much like the real Larry Gene Bell. His testimony in court, smally covered, this one lovestruck comment, was quite offputting. Indeed this true life t.v movie, is truly tragic, too, invoving child murder, this is a highly engrossing drama, and a sisterly repecting ending, as is footage of the real Dawn. Pretty much, this film will stay with you, days after. Solid, well made, wonferfully acted tv drama, with one great raging Devane moment. Watch.

The recounting of a terrible crime that wracked a family and galvanized police in South Carolina in the 1980s. (Despite the name, there is no Columbia County in South Carolina.) This film has two things going for it. One, it roughly tells the story of killer Larry Gene Bell, so anyone interested in him ought to check this out. But more interestingly, it features Jeri Ryan before she got her big break on "Star Trek". So any fans of hers will want to see this (though it is not her finest moment).

I was amused by how often they used the "call tracing" plot device. I do not know a lot about how real call tracing worked at the time,but I love that in movies it has to take a certain amount of time to get the exact location. Why it would take so long when the phone company should know where the call came from is beyond me.

Sadly, this TV movie is based on a true story. The problem with some of these dramas ripped from the headlines is that, after you've seen and heard the real family, there's simply no comparison.

Thanks to some nice performances, however, this film does a pretty good job of telling the story of a beauty queen who disappears outside of her home and whose family is then tortured by the kidnapper even after the young woman's body is found.

The actual shocking details are depicted in the movie - for instance, the poor mother having to keep the killer on the phone, on the day of her daughter's funeral, as the killer asks her if she wants to know how her daughter died. As the real-life mother said in the documentary done on Court TV, "Did I want to talk to him? No. But what choice did I have?" The young woman writes a letter to her family (also depicted in this movie). She states that she is ready to die and requests a closed casket. Though I can't imagine anything more unbearable, in real life, the parents say it has helped provide them with the closure they needed to go on for their lives.

Though this film does a decent job, certainly, the focus is on the Jeri Ryan character, the victim's sister. After viewing the Court TV story, one walks away inspired by the courage of the entire family in the face of such torment, and is haunted by the photo of this beautiful, radiant young woman with her entire life ahead of her.

In 2006, "What Not to Wear" did makeovers on three past beauty pageant contestants when they brought them back to re-enter the competition. One of the former contestants was a rather perky and annoying blond from the south. I later learned she is the sister on which the Jeri Ryan character is based; her sister was the one killed. I went from thinking this smiling and somewhat cloying older women was a pain to thinking she's one of the most remarkable women I've ever seen.