Murder in Greenwich (film)
Encyclopedia
Murder in Greenwich is a 2002 American television film directed by Tom McLoughlin
. The teleplay by Dave Erickson is based on the 1998 book of the same title by Mark Fuhrman
.
The Columbia TriStar Domestic Television
production debuted on the USA Network
on November 15, 2002 and was released on DVD
on May 6, 2003.
, whose brutal murder sometime between 10:00pm on October 30 and the early morning hours of October 31, 1975 remains unsolved in 1997. Mark Fuhrman, a former Los Angeles Police Department
detective who gained notoriety during O.J. Simpson's murder trial, is intrigued by the case and travels to Greenwich, Connecticut
to conduct an investigation of his own. Local authorities resent an outsider, especially one with a reputation as tarnished as Fuhrman's, invading their turf and do everything they can to block his access to official reports. The film alternates between flashback
s of the events leading up to the murder and scenes in the present day chronicling Fuhrman's frustration and interaction with Steve Carroll, the original investigator of the crime, who grudgingly agrees to assist him. Their combined efforts ultimately bring Kennedy relative and former Moxley neighbor Michael Skakel
to justice.
said, "Investigative techniques give way to genre cliches in USA's exaggerated Murder in Greenwich. Falling into the telepic trap of sensationalism without savvy, [it] delves into the shallow end of the Martha Moxley-Michael Skakel case, which has plenty more politics, intrigue and confounding history than this execution suggests . . . As Fuhrman, Meloni is macho almost to the point of bogus; whether he's playing the disgraced cop as he really is or how he thinks America sees him is hard to discern."
Robert Pardi of TV Guide
awarded the film two out of four stars and observed, "Despite the assured teamwork of Meloni and Forster, Tom McLoughlin's film . . . fails to build upon its inherently suspenseful elements or extract much juice from the gossipy Kennedy allure. But viewers with little prior knowledge of the case may find themselves caught up in this dismaying tale of justice delayed."
Tom McLoughlin
Tom McLoughlin is an American screenwriter, film/television director and former mime whose credits include numerous television movies, such as Murder in Greenwich, the feature film Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives and the 2009 Lifetime Movie Network film The Wronged Man.In 1977 McLoughlin was...
. The teleplay by Dave Erickson is based on the 1998 book of the same title by Mark Fuhrman
Mark Fuhrman
Mark Fuhrman is a former detective of the Los Angeles Police Department , known for his part in the investigation of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and his subsequent felony conviction for perjury...
.
The Columbia TriStar Domestic Television
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
production debuted on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
on November 15, 2002 and was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on May 6, 2003.
Plot
The film is narrated by Martha MoxleyMartha Moxley
Martha Elizabeth Moxley was a 15-year-old murder victim in a case that attracted worldwide publicity owing to a "Kennedy connection"....
, whose brutal murder sometime between 10:00pm on October 30 and the early morning hours of October 31, 1975 remains unsolved in 1997. Mark Fuhrman, a former Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
detective who gained notoriety during O.J. Simpson's murder trial, is intrigued by the case and travels to Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
to conduct an investigation of his own. Local authorities resent an outsider, especially one with a reputation as tarnished as Fuhrman's, invading their turf and do everything they can to block his access to official reports. The film alternates between flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
s of the events leading up to the murder and scenes in the present day chronicling Fuhrman's frustration and interaction with Steve Carroll, the original investigator of the crime, who grudgingly agrees to assist him. Their combined efforts ultimately bring Kennedy relative and former Moxley neighbor Michael Skakel
Michael Skakel
Michael C. Skakel was convicted in 2002 of the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, his 15-year-old neighbor in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was sentenced to 20 years to life and remains incarcerated. Skakel is the nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy, the widow of Senator Robert F...
to justice.
Cast
- Christopher MeloniChristopher MeloniChristopher Peter Meloni is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz.-Early life:Meloni was born the youngest of three children in...
..... Mark Fuhrman - Robert ForsterRobert ForsterRobert Forster is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.- Early life :Forster was born Robert Wallace...
..... Steve Carroll - Maggie GraceMaggie GraceMargaret Grace Denig , best known as Maggie Grace, is an American actress. Originally from Worthington, Ohio, she dropped out of high school to move to Los Angeles with her mother after her parents' divorce. While struggling financially, she landed her first role as the title character in the...
..... Martha Moxley - Jon FosterJon FosterJon Foster is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the 2004 film The Door in the Floor, the 2006 horror movie, Stay Alive, and co-starring opposite Jenna Elfman in the CBS comedy Accidentally on Purpose.-Personal life:Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...
..... Michael Skakel - Liddy HollowayLiddy HollowayElizabeth Brenda "Liddy" Holloway was a New Zealand actress.Born in Wellington, New Zealand, the daughter of a politician, Phil Holloway, Liddy Holloway originally worked as a journalist. She switched to acting and had a long career in the theater...
..... Dorothy Moxley
Critical reception
Michael Speier of VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said, "Investigative techniques give way to genre cliches in USA's exaggerated Murder in Greenwich. Falling into the telepic trap of sensationalism without savvy, [it] delves into the shallow end of the Martha Moxley-Michael Skakel case, which has plenty more politics, intrigue and confounding history than this execution suggests . . . As Fuhrman, Meloni is macho almost to the point of bogus; whether he's playing the disgraced cop as he really is or how he thinks America sees him is hard to discern."
Robert Pardi of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
awarded the film two out of four stars and observed, "Despite the assured teamwork of Meloni and Forster, Tom McLoughlin's film . . . fails to build upon its inherently suspenseful elements or extract much juice from the gossipy Kennedy allure. But viewers with little prior knowledge of the case may find themselves caught up in this dismaying tale of justice delayed."