![]() Emporia, Kansas minister Tom Bird takes up an affair with his floozy secretary, played by JoBeth Williams. This is a pretty good TV true-crime murder show. For that reason alone "Murder Ordained" is worth watching. Yet the unbelievable is precisely what makes this film so mesmerizing. The subject matter is unusual in that we don't normally think of a preacher as a murderer. Yes, it's a long film, but the complex story involves conspiracy, murder, hit men, adultery, and possible incompetence in public office. Cinematography, production design, casting, and acting are all high quality. On-location filming in Kansas adds to the realism, as does court transcripts of some dialogue. didn't God test Abraham in the same way?" Of course, his naïve parishioners stand by their man, no matter what. As the truth of a conspiracy starts to emerge and with law enforcement closing in, the confidently smug pastor, Tom Bird (Terry Kinney) reassures his panicky co-conspirator, Lorna (JoBeth Williams) that everything will be okay. In time, an ongoing tangle of lurid involvement between the preacher and his attractive church secretary leads others to the same conclusion. In one long flashback that covers the year before the wife's death in a presumed accidental traffic mishap, the script meticulously evolves the sordid relations leading up to the tragedy and the suspicion of one highway patrolman that this was no accident. One of the best TV movies ever made, this riveting film tells the true-life story of the murder of a preacher's wife in rural Kansas in the early 1980s. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |