Au-dessus de tout soupçon

"Dead by Sunset" has a "Movie of the Week" look about itself. It is surprising to read some comments to IMDb as to the length of the movie, when it was a sort of mini-series on television to begin with. The film was shown on Starz Mystery recently. The fact it was based on a novel by Ann Rule we had read, made us watch it.

As directed by Karen Arthur, the film offers some good moments. The story is based on a real incident, that happened in Oregon. Since it was filmed on the original locations, "Dead by Sunset" offers some glorious views of Portland and its suburbs.

We are introduced to the Cunningham family. Right away, one realizes there's a problem with Brad, the intense husband of Cheryl, a lawyer with a major firm. Our suspicions are confirmed by a series of incidents staged by Brad in order to make his wife appear as a bad mother because she has custody of their three children.

When Sara, a doctor, is introduced to Brad by a mutual friend, she has no idea who this man is, or the role he will play in her life. Brad, who is a misogynist, has been brought up by his macho father to hate women and never to trust them. Brad's own mother was cut from his life and he has grown to resent her, which is the same contempt he feels for Cheryl, the mother of his three sons.

The film has some good moments because of the acting Ms. Arthur got from her cast. The three principals, Ken Olin, Annette O'Toole, and Lindsay Frost, make good appearances in the film.

Evil Male character does great acting that I really enjoyed. Very believable acting, watched it a few times, and interesting court trial in the movie.

This is a surprise mystery/suspense film which portrays the sad and realistic true story of Bradley Cunningham, an abusive husband who was married five different times, and was charged with the murder of his fourth wife (well-portrayed by Annette O'Toole).

Cunningham had three young sons, and each performance in this film is very sympathetic (they each had red hair like their murdered mother).

The film is well done in that we see Cunningham's initial relationship with O'Toole, how it becomes increasingly sadistic (he cheats on her uses the children as pawns, and she reports his business to the IRS). Then the developing relationship with Lindsay Frost (who just happens to be a successful surgeon) Brad's estranged sister mentions; Brad was always planning, people are objects, they belong to him. A clear portrayal of a narcissistic personality.

There is a scene with John Terry as O'Toole's attorney/colleague; he is attempting to charge Cunningham with the crime in civil court, since the initial evidence wouldn't stand in criminal court. He meets Lindsay Frost (who is now Cunningham's fifth wife, as yet unaware of what he is capable of). He mentions to her that Cunningham has been married many times, has the victim's diary, and wants her to learn the reality of the situation.

Given the subject matter, this is very well-done. So many other films tackling this subject seem over the top, or become laughable (i.e. there was one LMN movie in particular with Janine Turner; can't recall the name) Frost's performance is also excellent, and sympathetic as she rescues Cunningham's sons from his further lies and manipulations. Based on the true crime novel by Ann Rule (who also wrote the book "The Stranger Beside Me", "Before he wakes" and several other true crime books) This film is well worth watching. 8/10.

This film portrays a sick young man who was abused as a child and grew up hating the mother image, he would marry women only to eventually torture and did everything evil he could to make their lives a daily living Hell. He tired to poison his children's minds against their mother and this went on from one wife to another. Ken Olin(Brad Cunningham),"' Till There Was You",'97, did an outstanding acting performance and Annette O'Toole was a great supporting actor through out the entire film. Ken Olin had a very high I.Q. but it seemed all this knowledge was directed toward being Evil and Hateful! Olin even defended himself in a court of law like other well known killers! I did notice that the music in some scenes where there was some romance goings on in a shower, the music sounded very much like "BODY HEAT", with a sexy trumpet player going wild! If you ever see signs like this in your marriage, run for the back door and keep RUNNING!

I remember when this movie was shot in Portland, Oregon, about eleven years ago. I had just joined a band (Henry Moon) and the guitarist's wife was involved with the making of this movie, though I don't remember what her title was exactly (she does not appear in the credits). We got to sit up all night, eat with the stars, watch scenes in the bar while they were shot, walk through the set, and hang out in a rough part of Portland all night on a weeknight in late Summer/early Fall. Then we got to be the band in the bar. I think our guitarist's right arm makes a 5 second appearance, and the rest of it, including our band's song, "The Night They Didn't Go To The Horror Picture Show," ended up on the cutting room floor. Oh well.

I knew nothing about the story until I saw this movie on the Encore/True Stories channel about ten years later. I was not as impressed as some reviewers have been with the acting. Yes, Ken Olin was good as a cruel and psycho nut case, but his character was thin and cold... the best villains have a sympathetic element to them, and yet Ken Olin's Brad Cunningham had no human or sympathetic characteristic at all. None. He is cinematic cardboard. Of course, I felt horrible for Cheryl Keeton (Annette O'Toole), and her children, but none of them were believable or had a lot of depth in this adaptation of Ann Rule's book. I did not feel as horrible as I should have, considering what happened to them. I did find myself rooting for Dr. Sara Gordon, but not as much as I wanted to. It all seemed so... flat, boring, and even though I had no real knowledge of the plot or background story, predictable.

Its an interesting story, once you get past the character development and the script. I cannot blame the cast. Ann Rule's book did not translate well into this script, and certainly Wesley Bishop could have taken a little bit more time with it, maybe even collaborated with Ms. Rule...of course I don't know that they didn't collaborate. I hope they didn't, it would explain a lot about the script, illustrating how an author's vision can be misinterpreted and dumbed down for television. The script hardly lives up to the story she told in her book. Karen Arthur (Director) was fun to work with, but I had never been in front of a camera before, so I wouldn't know what a good director does. I do have my opinion of the final product, however, and I thought this could have been a lot better. I know that they shot it in a hurry... if I recall, the shoot went around the clock, was shot in 8 or 10 weeks total, and by watching the film I can tell that they didn't re-shoot all that much.

Still, its fun to see my home town in the made-for-television movies, and this is an interesting true story. If you like true crime dramas (for whatever reason) and can get past the somewhat wooden acting and airy, thin script, you might enjoy this film. I did NOT hate it. It was fun to watch and the story is good. I think my main beef is that it could have been so much better. I feel a bit let down.