The Brittany Murphy Story

Finally, a Lifetime Original Movie achieves Ed Wood-Tommy Wiseau levels of awfulness. The Brittany Murphy Story isn't merely offensive to Ms Murphy's fans, or to lovers of good biopics; it's awful on any level you can name. This movie features production values lower than you'll find in most home movies, and dialogue pulled from a Victorian melodrama (example, the line "broken hearts strewn on both sides of the Atlantic" -- really!).

Amanda Fuller looks and sounds nothing like Ms Murphy, but that didn't stop the producers from casting her. Sherilyn Fenn answers the obscure question "what happened to the hot girl from Twin Peaks" with a firm "Believe me, you don't want to know." The Simon Monjack character vacillates between deserving a halo, and deserving a long stretch in Leavenworth.

I can't remember having more joy watching a DVD, but then again, I have a strong streak of masochism.

Shame on the director and the writer , they didn't even mention 8 miles in the movie nor picked an actress who even slightly resembles Brittany . Brittany wasn't chubby or that ordinary looking , she was pretty and charismatic with a nice smile . Couldn't the director at least pick a decent looking blonde or something ??!! , no he made the effort to find an actor who looked like Ashton Kutcher and forgot about the leading character . Amanda Fuller lacked performance and looks on that movie about a very special talent that the cinema lost . The whole movie lacked excitement , it was supposed to be one of them movies that moves you or touches you but for me that never happened . Movies about biography should be written and directed very carefully and honesty to deliver for the audience the real story with all its feelings and emotions . Disappointing !!!

This was pretty terrible, even by Lifetime standards. I think the biggest problem (amongst many) was the girl who played Brittany Murphy (Amanda Fuller). Not only did she looking nothing like Brittany but she doesn't embody her in any way; speech (that cute scratchy voice), mannerisms, hairstyles, or clothing. Just a very dry performance that could have been done by anyone.

Honestly they did a better job casting the Ashton Kutcher lookalike than Brittany, you could at least tell who he was supposed to be. The dude playing Simon Monjack (the husband) was cast well too.

I also never felt like this was "the true story" or that I gained any insight whatsoever into her life, it all just felt like speculation. Her initial rise to stardom was interesting, I guess but it seemed to happen very quickly, almost glazed over with the movie focusing to a lesser degree on her career and more on her relationships with Simon and her mother -who figures prominently throughout.

She meets Simon early on, he's suggested as creepy and even criminal. I actually remember being shocked when I saw pictures of the man she'd married -what was that all about? There are hints of struggles with weight, heart problems, self esteem and paranoia regarding the paparazzi.

Ultimately this doesn't tell an interesting story or capture Brittany in any way. Her death is left a mystery, as is her marriage to Simon and how he also died. 2/24/15

What a disgrace. This movie might be all right if it had no connection to any real people (though it would still be a poor one), but as a biography of Brittany Murphy it's almost unwatchable. Everything is bad.

What's with the choice of actress? She doesn't look anything like Brittany, she doesn't act like her, she has no charisma (which Brittany had plenty of)... What's going on? Some other characters in the movie look and act more like Brittany than Amanda Fuller does. Chloë Crampton who plays her friend would have been a better choice. Watching that round face, I had to constantly remind myself who it's supposed to represent because there was just no resemblance.

I don't really know anything about Brittany's real life, but I really doubt she was this lame when in the movies she was so cool. It just doesn't add up. I feel like Amanda Fuller has never even seen any of Brittany's movies.

Acting is overall pretty bad. A biography of a famous person should not be a B movie with poor actors.

The movie completely fails to build up atmosphere for emotional scenes, so they just end up looking artificial and ridiculous. Crappy, boring music doesn't help either. Everything feels fake. Cheap melodrama.

A girl with a really bad wig representing Alicia Silverstone wasn't even funny.

Brittany's biography deserves a decent script and cast. This is just a bad joke.

Perky student Amanda Fuller (as Brittany Murphy) acts poorly in a high school stage show. Nevertheless, she is seen by a TV ad producer and quickly becomes successful making commercials - they say it's because she looks average. Hoping to become a real actress, Ms. Fuller demands single mom Sherilyn Fenn (as Sharon) move from New Jersey to Los Angeles, CA. Very quickly, Fuller's "Brittney" lands a guest-starring role on "Murphy Brown" - then, she is off and running. Now a big TV star, "Brittney" wants to be in films. So, she becomes a sensation in "Clueless". But all is not well. Fuller's "Brittney" receives a smile from a young model-type hunk on the set, but he calls her a "chunky monkey." In spite of her pounds, Fuller lands in bed with hunky Adam Hagenbuch (as Ashton Kutcher)...

Photographers swarm around "Brittney". One of them tells her the paparazzi are not real friends - that's quite a revelation...

The "Clueless" star eventually learns photographer Eric Petersen (as Simon Monjack) was correct. Over the years, they become chunky chums. All of it ends up in the teaser scene we see opening this movie. We're told this TV and film star was possibly poisoned. Yet, during the running time, there is no poisoning. That's fine, but don't suggest it again in the closing. One of the big problems with this biography - and there are many - it that the star is the most uninteresting character in the drama. Her mother and "Simon" are more interesting. Director Joe Menendez and his crew occasionally move the players around well, but it's all episodic - there is no connecting tissue. The star's rise seems to happen overnight, and no particular skills are shown. We are left to wonder why this person warranted a movie at all.

** The Brittany Murphy Story (9/6/14) Joe Menendez ~ Amanda Fuller, Sherilyn Fenn, Eric Petersen, Adam Hagenbuch