Remember when the networks used to make “ripped from the headlines” made for TV movies? They gave serious acting work to people like Joanna Kerns and Valerie Bertinelli. Everything from murder to the “Baby M” surrogacy to grandma trying to steal the baby from the lesbian mom custody fights were covered. And man, I used to eat those things up. I have been known to watch reruns on Lifetime Movie Network all day when I am home sick. And that is why I was thrilled to learn Lifetime is going to be airing one about the Amanda Knox trial soon. Get your tivos ready.
Here are the ones that still stand out for me and I could watch again and again.
1. Blind Faith-I actually had read the “true crime” book before I watched the movie. Which I think was a miniseries. I may have devoted 4 hours of my life to this. More than once. Yes, I’m that much of a dork. A wealthy business man is accused of killing his wife to collect insurance money to pay for his gambling debts. It starred Robert Urich and Joanna Kerns and here is a random piece of trivia, Tracey Gold married one of the real life sons of the man portrayed in the movie. She met him while she was visiting her tv mom on set. Please do not ask why I know this. I just do. I think I’ve seen this like 5 times. It is one of those tv movies that is always on.
2. Who Is Clark Rockefeller?-this guy pretends to be a Rockefeller and gets married and has a child and then gets divorced and kidnaps the child. His ex-wife then learns he was lying about who he was. He was portrayed with convincingly creepiness by Eric McCormack. I actually searched for this movie on tivo long after is was shown because it got such good reviews and it did not disappoint. But it did reinforce the idea that you can never really know people. And who knew Will could act?
3. In A Child’s Name-this one wins for cheese value alone. Because the one scene where the parents are sleeping in the dead wife and their son’s, who so clearly killed her, bed, and the police had used something that made the blood glow in the dark and they wake up and the blood is everywhere? That scene is priceless. The true story goes something like this….he kills his wife, the grandparents illegally adopt the child, and then the aunt tries to get the kid back. Valerie Bertinelli’s shining acting moment. Totally.
4. Mary Kay Letourneau: All American Girl-I found this story strangely fascinating. A teacher has sex with a 13 year old student, has his child, goes to jail, then does it again, and goes to jail again. What 13 year old boy can be that appealing when you are an adult? Penelope Ann Miller played her as a misunderstood woman but I still didn’t get it. Still, the movie was entertaining in a very my life is not this much of a trainwreck kind of way.
5. The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story-I don’t know anyone who wasn’t fascinated with this story. As for me, Laci and I shared a birthday and we were pregnant at the exact same time. We all sat captivated by the tv, would they find her? I think we all suspected she was dead. Dean Cain, aka Superman, played this sociopath perfectly with the right amount of creepiness and charm. But we still never found out why he did it.
So tell me, did I miss any? Do you miss these as much as me? Will you watch the Amanda Knox Story or whatever they are going to call it?
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