A Little Thing Called Murder

"A Little Thing Called Murder" is another TV movie about Sante and Kenny Kimes, the real-life mother and son con artist/murder team. The first film starred Mary Tyler Moore and focused mainly on the murder of Irene Silverman, the New York woman killed for her brownstone and whose body was never found. (Court TV also did a documentary on them.) In this version, the murder of Irene is at the end of the movie. Director Richard Benjamin takes us through the bizarre life of Sante, with each crime a new episode that begins with the title "A Little" - which is how Sante thought of her crimes - A Little Problem with the Maid (slavery), A Little Problem with the Check, etc.

Now in prison, Sante Kimes must be in life as over the top as depicted by Mary Tyler Moore - and if you thought Moore was outrageous, wait until you see Judy Davis sink her teeth into Sante. The approach in this film is more of dark comedy, though much of it is quite shocking. Davis' performance can only be described as out there - and probably accurate. Sante thoroughly corrupts her young son, played here by adorable Jonathan Jackson, which makes his crimes and killings all the more horrible. She sets fire to the family home for insurance; she takes a test drive in a car and holds onto it for a year; her Mexican help are actually slaves; she shoplifts, and when caught, she hits her son and goes after the security guard; the two claim to the cops that the security guard slapped Kenny and leave; she hides her husband's death so she can clean out his Bahamian bank accounts; and finally, of course, the Silverman case. In real life, not shown here, Sante actually posed as Silverman, an 82-year-old, in order to sign some papers.

Catch Davis performing "Santa Baby" with a boa and you'll know you've entered the twilight zone. She's a scream. The film is very well done, interesting, and intriguing. But don't look for motives or reasons. The writers deliberately didn't explore them. Sante is so nuts, though, one wonders if she hadn't lost sight of her original demons years earlier.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

For what this movie was, it was perfect. It was Mommy Dearest meets Weekend at Bernies.

Judy Davis was incredible as a Grifter of extraordinary caliber, manipulating everyone yet seemingly believing in her own innocence. The actress should get an award for her superb performance. As an added bonus, she often (perhaps this was intentional?) looked like another flamboyant life of the party - Serina, Samatha's witch cousin from the original Bewitched television series.

Chelcie Ross and Jonathan Jackson were also a great supporting cast, completely believable in their roles as basically manipulated, yet loved, family members.

Yes, it's easy to bash any LIFETIME movie. However, the film "A Little Thing Called Murder" should have been released to theaters. The film tells the true story of Sante Kimes, a flamboyant liar, con artist, manipulator and all-around evil witch. Sante is played by Judy Davis, who should win every possible acting award for this disturbing yet oddly funny black comedy. Sante leads her son, Kenny, (the criminally cute Jonathan Jackson) into a life of merciless horror. She conditions him and shapes his mind the minute he is born. The story of Sante and her son Kenny has been the source of various books and a movie, "Like Mother, Like Son" with Mary Tyler Moore as Sante. That film told the story in a serious and dramatic fashion. In a stroke of creative brilliance, director Richard Benjamin decided to present this material as outrageous and zany. It truly is; if you know the story, you'll know that nobody could come up with it from imagination. Sante is a ruthless, cunning, cold-hearted sociopath...but we see that she doesn't realize that what she does is wrong. She does things HER way and God help anybody who stands up to her. Sante and Kenny murder people, order arson on houses, scam several banks, steal cars, and Lie...Lie...LIE. Lies piled up on top of other lies. Judy Davis and Jonathan Jackson are both incredible in this movie, which manages- and delivers- chuckles in an otherwise grim story. Director Richard Benjamin took the absolute right-on approach with handling this mess of a story. KUDOS to all involved.

It might be hard to believe this story if it wasn't true. For the record, I'd never heard of any of this until I watched this, nor have I read the book. I cannot comment on how close this stays to the actual events. I understand that this is a comedy, and I suppose I can see how some, maybe even most, would find it funny. Not a single thing made me crack a hint of a smile in this, but then again, I do not have a great tolerance for unbelievably irritating and obnoxious women, and apart from this featuring that one from According to Jim who's being so is her sole "joke"(not that that show has a lot of hilarity going on anyway... I digress), the lead is also portraying one such individual. I don't blame the actress. In fact, let's clear that up right away: The performances are spot-on, everyone is credible, and Davis does marvelous. I would guess that the behavior is close to that of the real Sante, and *she* is the one I have the real beef with. The plot is interesting enough, and well-told. Pacing is good. The editing and cinematography are nice. This holds mild violence, disturbing content and a little sexuality. I recommend this to those who like films about con artists. 7/10

Based on a true story, director Richard Benjamin and star Judy Davis (as Sante) nevertheless give this "Lifetime" TV movie a comedy treatment. It's even possible to view "A Little Thing Called Murder" it as a satire of psycho sexy criminal mother movies. Chewing the scenery like it's made of ham, Ms Davis devours her role. Angel-faced (the grown-up) son Jonathan Jackson (as Kenneth "Kenny" Kimes) is her main accomplice. He and the supporting cast stay out of the way and allow Davis and Mr. Benjamin to do their thing. We get why Mr. Jackson went south, but wonder about Davis' character. The subject isn't all that funny, but Davis certainly seems to be having fun. If you relish Davis, chances are you will too.

****** A Little Thing Called Murder (1/23/06) Richard Benjamin ~ Judy Davis, Jonathan Jackson, Chelcie Ross, Cynthia Stevenson