MovieChat Forums > The O.J. Simpson Story (1995) Discussion > Flawed and misunderstood

Flawed and misunderstood

posted 18 years ago by sljones44
3 replies | jump to latest

This was a story focusing on the sensational aspects of the trial. The teleplay delves into the violent underside of Simpson's personality as
defined by the 9/11 calls. It was sensational, tragic and melodramatic. What surprised me the most is that it was one of the sadder stories that people wanted to forget, which would explain the absence of a big screen treatment of it. The fact "he got away with it" was enough to tarnish any interest in a well reasoned, researched film. The conspiracy angle of Joe Ippolito, cocaine addict Faye Resnick and hitman Frankie Viserto was never covered. Needless to say the anger of O.J. Simpson was emphasized in this tawdry but somewhat even handed account.

The psychological aspect of him attempting to satisfy a trophy wife yet control her movements were illustrated also.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kndykss 11 years ago

Melodramatic???? She was abused for 17 years of her life by someome every revered as a "hero" no one wanted to believe he was such a brutal monster to her in life and horrific beyond words to her in death.. I don't see where this is "melodramatic" as far as any one else being involved. thats because no one committed this horror other than him/ why focus the movie on her friends "supposed hitman" etc... when this story is about domestic violence that escalated to murder?? They should never have rushed this into production before the trial started. they shouldve waited till the end so they would have more info but think back to the movies of all high profile cases they are aired before the case is resolved;
.

[–] mediagiant 9 years ago

I remember watching this TV movie when it first came out, and I just saw it again thanks to YouTube.

I've studied this case in a lot of detail, and I can tell this movie draws heavily from actual transcripts like Nicole's 911 calls and OJ's NFL Hall of Fame induction speech. It's almost like a documentary. It's obviously a TV movie...thrown together very quickly and on a tight budget.

A few things I noticed:

1) Jessica Tuck was stunning as Nicole.

2) Kimberly Russell was equally stunning as Marguerite.

3) The guys they got to play Detectives Lange and Vannatter looked nothing like them. Also, it was Lange who talked to OJ on the cell phone, not Vannatter.

4) Jessica Tuck appeared in one episode of Seinfeld called "The Label Maker." Richard Fancy, who played Ed Ledbetter, also appeared in 10 episodes of Seinfeld as Mr. Lippman, Elaine's boss at Pendant Publishing.

5) In reality, the fight on 1/1/1989 came long after "The Naked Gun" premiered, yet the movie showed OJ telling Nicole about the role at that time and her saying, "Just don't expect to win an Oscar for it." So there's some confusion about the timeline of events.