Murdaugh Murders: The Movie

Boy, this Lifetime movie is boring. I saw quite a few documentaries on the case, but eventually tired of watching them, since they all were alike. Since this was a fiction movie, however, I was once again curious. What a waste of time, plus two rental fees at Amazon! I almost didn't even watch Episode 2 after seeing Episode 1.

If you know nothing or little about the case, it might interest you. If you know a lot, all this movie does is reenact details using characters that have no complexity. Alex is a drug addict in deep financial trouble. Maggie is like a '50s housewife, sweet but either blind to all that goes on with Alex, or simply turning a blind eye to it all. Paul was portrayed as much nicer than he was in real life. Buster is not there at all! He's mentioned, but never present, not even at the trial. Did the real Buster threaten to sue Lifetime?

There's no plot, no buildup to anything, not even the murder or the murder trial. I guess the viewer was supposed to be satisfied watching Bill Pullman play a desperate drug addict. Wow, how thrilling. Stick with documentaries if you want to know more about the Murdaugh family. Don't waste your time trying to make it through this pluff mud.

First off I take my hat off to Lifetime Movies for such a great docudrama movie. Although there is a disclaimer at the start of the movie that some of the content has been "reconstructed" I have to say as an avid follower of the actual case this docudrama has to be around 98% accurate with only 2 sequences that seemed not to be mentioned in the trial. It must have taken a lot of soul searching for the producer(s) to show the actual shooting as none of the documentaries I have watched show the actual shooting except in "cartoon" or "model" mode. Bill Pullman is excellent but so are the other supporting cast. I really enjoyed this move and at 2 x 1.30 Hours Long it never seemed that. It comes highly recommended if you are interested in true crime and the Murdaugh storyline.

The Murdough murders is a compelling story on its on but the production of the movie is a little slow. However Pullman's performance makes the show. I was surprised at how good he was! If you've watched true crime stories you should check this out. It's not the best movie but it's not the worst. The Murdough story is pretty interesting on its own but just watching Pullman slowly descend into a train wreck is fun to watch. Honestly he should win an Emmy for this one. Honestly I don't have much more to say about this show but I do need a few more words to meet the required characters. Check it out. I hope to see more from Pullman.

I first watched the Netflix series and followed this case and I think lifetime did a great job on this series. More specifically, Bill Pullman stole the show! If you've seen as much footage as I have on Alec Murdaugh you'll notice that Bill Pullman has all his mannerisms down to a Tee! Right down to the way Alec would rock back-and-forth when he was being questioned, to his accent, etc. Knowing all the details of this case, it is nice to see it portrayed so well. The actor that played his son Paul did a really great job too, as well as his wife Maggie. I like the way the series pulls all the information you learn about Alec through the court cases and puts it all together. There's so many crazy details in this story that it almost seems too crazy to be true, but it is. If you haven't watched anything on this family tragedy yet I suggest first watching the Netflix series.

The movies covered all the important bits but my lord the accents of the actors is so far from acceptable. Especially the man that played ALEC. The accent is so far from realistic. Maybe it's because I grew up 20 min from where this took place but it's so forced that it ruins the whole movie. Makes it sound cheaply made. They didn't even pronounce Beaufort correctly. I cringed through the whole thing just because of how awful the accents were. Next time you should probably have someone from the area instead of using a forced stereotype of how people from the south supposedly sound.

Do better next time.