La fin du rêve

Lifetime Television's "The Two Mr. Kissels," based on the true story of two murdered brothers, stars John Stamos as Andrew Kissel, Anson Mount as Robert Kissel, and Robin Tunney as Robert's wife, Nancy. Somehow, a fascinating story was rendered fairly uninteresting by the script. With better writing, this might have been a compelling, old-fashioned two-parter, as there is certainly enough material out there.

The Kissel brothers were wealthy and seemingly successful young men - Robert was a brilliant businessman whose career had an upward trajectory. Unfortunately, he married a narcissistic money-grubber (Tunney) who falls for a cable guy (in real life a stereo repairman) and decides she's better off with all of the cash and no husband. Andrew could have been a successful entrepreneur, but he needed to come up to par with his brother and make a big splash. He becomes a cocaine-addicted, womanizing con artist, married to a successful woman who truly loves him and turns a blind eye to his shady deals and late nights.

The murders of both men are handled well, but one never gets a strong sense of the relationship between the two brothers or any handle on the character of Robert. John Stamos does a good job with the material, but the best role in the film belongs to Robin Tunney as Nancy. She's excellent. It's really the only fleshed out part in the film.

There was a good deal more that went on in this real-life saga, including in court. In the end, I felt that the script let down what should have been a fascinating story.

I hope there will be another Kissel movie out there. I read two books about the Kissel Brothers. I felt that Robin Tunney gave the best performance as unhinged Nancy Kissel. You hated her one minute and felt sorry for her in the next minute. She felt like property than a wife. It is true that her father-in-law looked down upon his daughter-in-law from day one. The two hour film which is really only 90 minutes plus a few couldn't unfold the events that led to the downfalls of both Kissel brothers. Robert Kissel was the good brother who succeeded in the financial world and even landed a job in Hong Kong but was troubled by an unstable wife. Andrew Kissel played by John Stamos is the only other standout performance in the film. He is both troubled and devious in deceiving his investors of the actual losses. Their spouses aren't as memorable as Nancy and Andrew. Maybe they should have gotten together in the first place but it would be a deadly combination. Sadly, since it is based on the true Kissel story. I felt that there wasn't enough details but only hints of Nancy and Andrew's falls.The film comes across as disjointed with people like Hayley, Andrew's wife, and his driver giving a statements along with other Hong Kong wives who were expatriates whose husbands and never came home to the Parkview complex. Nancy's crimes were brought on by a combination of things and a culmination of despair and utter desperation. Nancy was tired of being Robert's wife. Robert tried to buy her happiness but nothing worked. She was miserable in Hong Kong and the only light was a cable guy in New England. The Kissels' sister spoke about maybe if she didn't meet the cable guy or that there were too many maybes. The tragedy of the Kissel family is well-documented in books. I felt sorry for both Nancy and Andrew who longed for happiness, love, and acceptance. Nancy felt out of place with her in-laws easily.

Firstly, I know about the subject matter. It is based on a true story and many of the main characters are real people (this is a docudrama) and some have different names. The characters resemble the actual people but look nothing like the real people involved and some of the facts are altered or left out. I'm not sure if this is because of potential liability or threatened legal action or the producers only used the actual events as a jumping-off point and didn't think they were doing a documentary, so accuracy was not tantamount. Also, the time line was cleaned up and made easier to understand because there were other issues that were not included (Nancy's father planned on taking care of Robert's kids and then her brother wanted to care for them, etc.) so if you're watching this thinking this is all the way it was or were not familiar with the actual events, please understand there is a lot more information that was not included or was altered, so the movie is not accurate. The producers and the writer work around this by calling the movie a docudrama, which means as long as it has some truth to it, then that's okay but some details were basically mis-represented in any event.

This just released on TV gave the viewers a treat in the performances and script. A mystery, although it's pretty obvious as to what will happen from the beginning. In fact in the promos of the film you sort of know what's ahead. The two Mr. Kissels are played by Anson Mount and John Stamos. Like the good and bad brothers. Cain and Able. One tries to compete with the other in life, love and happiness. First one gets married then the other. But the wives are reversed in good and bad. Anson marries a witch, played by the not so attractive Robin Tunney, who is out for all she can get. You do wonder why this nice looking guy would not only fall for the likes of Tunney, but why he would put up with her. Most guys would have dropped her fast. She looked like Dracula's daughter. Then Stamos married a beauty who is all for him and he screws up all he way.

You put these four together and sooner or later it all falls apart. I felt bad for Anson and the gal who played the other wife, don't know her name. Stamos and Tunney earned their fates.

Both Stamos and Mount did good jobs. A big departure for Stamos who usually plays the nice guy. Mount is new to me and should go far in his career. Tunney, you want to forget. Bad casting and not that pretty to look at.

The Two Mr. Kissels is quite possibly the worst TV movie I have ever seen. Without a doubt, the commercial interruptions were the high points of the experience.

The script was ridiculous, the acting flat and the direction useless. I waited and listened to useless dialog hoping for the film to take some direction. It never happened.

I wish I could cite some worthwhile attribute of this film. Unfortunately there was none

In spite of the boredom, I hung in for the entire horrid experience. The only relief came when the end titles appeared! This trash is not worth one moment of anyone's time!

1/10