SHE LOVED HIM, SO SHE SHOT HIM.
A slightly bizarre TV version of the famous case where a teacher with kids married an affluent doctor and subsequently shot him to death when their marriage soured. A previous TV movie, The People vs. Jean Harris from 1981 (that starred Ellen Burstyn), focused a lot on the trial, but this film wants to show more of the Tarnower-Harris relationship; how they met, what made them tick. The two stars play their characters fairly broadly and director Phyllis Nagy brings a lot of color and humor to the narrative. It doesn’t quite work, but Annette Bening is outstanding.
2005-U.S. Made for TV. 95 min. Color. Written and directed by Phyllis Nagy. Cast: Annette Bening (Jean Harris), Ben Kingsley (Herman Tarnower), Ellen Burstyn (Ex-Lover #3), Frances Fisher, Philip Baker Hall, Cloris Leachman… Mary McDonnell, Chloë Sevigny.
Trivia: Burstyn was nominated for an Emmy, which was controversial because she only appears for eleven seconds and has two lines.
AVERAGE