1990
Directed by Barbet Schroeder
My sister decided to watch this movie with me today after I told her Glenn Close was in it. Mention anything remotely connected to The Big Chill and she is hooked. We watched it mostly in silence. After the credits rolled, she asked "What was that?" I am still not sure.
Sunny von Bulow slips into a coma after going into diabetic shock. Her husband Claus von Bulow is convicted of attempted murder, as it is believed he injected her with an overdose of insulin. Sunny is rich and Claus is a cheating creep, so it's hard to blame anyone for this verdict. Claus hires Alan Dershowitz to win his appeal, but Dershowitz isn't convinced Claus is innocent...
It really sounds more interesting than it is. I can't entirely fault the film for this, as this is based a true story. The Book makes it sound like it was a great artistic decision to leave the ending ambiguous, but really, the filmmakers didn't have any other move unless they wanted to risk getting sued.
The attempts to make Alan likable (since Claus was such a robot) weren't entirely successful. He still felt a bit wooden to me. Only one thing really happens throughout the entire two hour running time. Maybe I am being too harsh. I just saw Gone Girl yesterday and it is hard not to compare the two, with Gone Girl being vastly superior. Of course, that's a fictional story so there is more room to be creative.
Certainly not the worst thing I have ever sat through, but I am more curious about how this made its way into the Book than I am about the actual von Bulow case.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
The real Sunny von Bulow died at the age of 76, having spent the last 28 years of her life in a coma.
