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A Fictionalized Account of Andrew Cunanan

Amos Lassen | Little Rock, Arkansas | 03/01/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Murder in Fashion"

A Fictionalized Account of Andrew Cunanan

Amos Lassen

In the year 1997, Andrew Cunanan was listed by the FBI as one of the tem most wanted fugitives. He murdered five people before he committed suicide in Miami Beach. There was a nationwide manhunt after him but what really caught the attention of the world was that his fifth victim was Gianni Versace.
Jonathan Trent is Cunanan and he really plays the part. The film combines the murder spree with the FBI investigation and is also a commentary on how law enforcement distrusts the gay community.
There is a problem with the film and that is that it tries to do too much and therefore it loses focus. Had it just concentrated on Cunanan the man it would have been much more effective.
We see that Cunanan's pursuit of beauty becomes self-destructive and one of the things the movie does do is show how men were rejected by the murderer because they did not live up to his standards of what beauty was. When he meets Versace who was the epitome of beauty, we watch how what how he rebels against his own ideals but ultimately rids the world of him. We also see how Cunanan pines over hi "own fading beauty". He becomes a narcissist who is self loathing.
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Unsettling but very watchable

Linda Boroff | 05/29/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This interpretation of the months-long murder spree of Andrew Cunanan that culminated in the killing of fashion icon Gianni Versace, followed by Cunanan's suicide, was the stuff of headlines back in 1997. It still brings shudders to watch handsome young actor Jonathon Trent dive into this role. The movie plays out on two levels: the murders themselves, and the device of FBI agent Harry Spalding who tracks Cunanan --- a cynical, frustrated and bitter man, past his prime, who is given the responsibility but not the authority to bring the spree to an end. For instance, (the movie fictionalizes all of this) Spalding, whose insights and good guesses make him the best chance to bring Cunanan in, is sent off across the country on a chore of interviewing the family, when he is aching to go east, to New York or Florida, where he is sure Cunanan is heading after his murder of architect Lee Miglin in Chicago.

I found star Jonathon Trent's acting in this film to be a courageous interpretation of Cunanan; a difficult role to play, but Trent holds nothing back. Alternately playfully seductive and murderously organized, the narcissistic Cunanan is brought to life by Trent's acting. In this movie, Cunanan is portrayed as somebody whose fading looks and whose inability to get a foot in the door in modeling --- or get his "fair share" of money, all contribute to pushing him into homicidal fury against his friend Jeff Trail in Minneapolis, which starts the whole chase. It's not fair to speculate about people like Trail who can't defend themselves, but whatever misunderstanding of him Cunanan had, he certainly didn't deserve to die like that. In fact, it was creepy to think of innocent people going about their business who turned out to be victims just because Cunanan needed to steal a car and they were in the wrong place at the time.

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