Till Death Us Do Part

Treat Williams makes this film an enjoyable nightmare of horrors unspeakable and a thorough dive into the depth of extreme psychopathology. At first it is all bewildering, we have no idea what it is all about, all we have is an outrageous crime of murder with the victim shot many times through and burnt up at his home, a placid man who did no harm to anyone nor had any enemies In the world. The widow gets her insurance money, and the case is closed, but one clerk is not happy about it and refuses to let it drop into oblivion. When the widow's lover remarries after his divorce from a wife he almost beat to death, and his new wife is shot through a number of times, it is enough. There is no evidence, but the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming.

Treat Williams plays the self made superhero who thinks he can get away with anything and is consistently superior in all his relationships and enterprises, and he does it admirably. Although you become convinced of his crimes at an early stage, you stay on fascinated by him until his own bitter end. As a documentary film it is on par with the early Henry Hathaway films and other films too realistic to be pleasant, but all the actors are more than excellent. It's a horrible story of a horrible man, but you can't help relishing it thoroughly all through.

When he murders her ex-husband in order to release insurance money, Alan's girlfriend, Sandra, immediately becomes the main suspect in the ensuing murder investigation. Meanwhile Alan is also married to the abused Katherine, who he plans to also murder for the money. However an ambitious young DA smells a case and refuses to let it go.

Based on a true story as told in the book by the DA involved in the case (Bugliosi) this TVM starts out looking like it may well be the usual sort of slush you get when you turn on the telly in the middle of the afternoon. The values are low: direction is obvious and direct, the sets look a bit basic and the music is the usual fare. However, after a while the story settles down and then starts going better. In the end the film is quite dramatic and involving and the case is enjoyable even if it lacks the sort of fireworks that we have been conditioned to expect from Hollywood movies.

A massive part of the reason that this film works is the work of several key cast members. Williams gives a really great performance in the lead and plays Palliko large without making a spoof of him. Howard also is strong as Bugliosi. The rest of the main cast is pretty good but not as assured as these lead two; however it is in the smaller roles where there are a surprising amount of well known faces who were not so famous when this was made. Vince is always watchable, Ashley Judd makes a sudden appearance and West Wing's Schiff is there too; none of them have much screen time but it is funny to tune into a daytime movie and see so many famous faces!

Overall this film is generally better than the daytime slot and production values would suggest. It isn't gripping but it is an enjoyable film and the fact that it is a true story helps. What makes it worth watching though is some great performances from Williams and Howard who both do different performances but are both the best things in the film.