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I checked this Lifetime movie for no other reason than to check out actress Mena Suvari. A gorgeous blonde with a great body was all I wanted to see but there is a story here with some great actors, just not a lot of acting. It is a soap opera based on a true event. A story, not history.
Ted Binion, played by talented Matthew Modine, is a wealthy mining magnate who falls madly with Sandy, played by another talented performer in Mena Suvari, a gorgeous Las Vegas dancer. Meeting and marrying so soon, death claims Ted after controversies between him, Sandy, and his family, particularly his sister Becky played by Marcia Gay Harden. Murder is the word, especially after Becky hires men to steal a horde of hidden wealth, the motive is greed. A trial in which Sandy is found guilty follows but circumstances allow for another trial.
This story was interestingly written, even if it was rife with sensationalism. I got to say it wasn't half bad, even though it could have been told better.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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Audience Member
Mina pulls off trashy so well
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
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Audience Member
It was so-so. Entertaining enough to have on in the background while I worked on some other stuff.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/28/23
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Audience Member
Very terrible acting in this made for tv movie now on dvd. A story about the murder?...death of Ted Binion. Interesting movie to watch if you've been to Vegas. The Casino still stands in bright lights on Freemont Street near Four Queens and the Golden Nugget.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/16/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Ninety minutes of this made-for-Lifetime-TV melodrama teaches almost nothing about this actual Vegas murder case ... that can't be learned in five minutes reading on the web.
Overall, this is dull & uninformative work. And the director must have worked hard to make it that way, given it's a story about a Vegas casino owner on drugs, his young exotic dancer live-in lover, HER lover and the owner's shrewish conniving sister. Said another way, the story itself is indeed interesting. This film is not.
Even though I figured this film would be drier than the Death Valley, I watched it anyway. Because I am a Vegas trivia hound. I've collected more of it my head than anyone in a 300-mile radius. So when this puppy turned up in the $1.99 bin at my local supermarket, complements of the collapse of Hollywood Video, well there was no way it wasn't coming home for a spin in my player.
In the $1.99 bin at the supermarket - - with a teasing title like this on the cover artwork? Well, that should tell a person something right there. But into my player it went, just the same.
The film actually leans slightly toward implying Murphy & Tabish are innocent. For example, the fact that Tabish already had a fairly lengthy criminal history is never once mentioned. And that's also an example of the fact that, well, a lot of facts are left out.
Not that the director didn't have the time to present them. Within the first six minutes of the film, Suvari arrives in Vegas in her beater car, loses her wad of cash at Caesars, gets a job dancing at Cheetahs, meets Binion and moves in with him. Yep, no dilly-dallying around with actual facts in this film!
But if you're the type of person who would rather watch melodrama to learn about such a thing, rather than read, say, TruTVs Crime Library article to get all the facts, well then I suppose this was indeed made for you.
This is low-budget stuff, of course, so don't hold high expectations. Every scene is a set piece that was built somewhere that was nowhere near Las Vegas. And apparently not built anywhere near accomplished set builders either. Acting is pretty humdrum, delivered by known C-listers.
If you didn't think Mena Suvari could ever look bad on screen, well then you might want to take a gander. And I don't mean just her acting. I mean the makeup artist was obviously being paid minimum hourly wage. Suvari close-ups look like test shots for a Clearasil commercial.
RECOMMENDATION: Based on the evidence, Mena Suvari, guilty of acting at merely pay-check-speed, is hereby sentenced to no less than two years watching this film over and over again until eligible for parole.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/14/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Trashy but not totally unenjoyable. I actually did not know this story, so it was all new to me. Not sure if it is deliberately vague about whether she was guilty or not, or I just wasn't paying attention closely enough, but it is a bit up in the air. For a bit of brainless entertainment, it was okay, though.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
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