I watched this film knowing nothing about the case, or Major Armstrong before, and found it engaging, and very well acted - but still a bit cold and distant.
The story follows Major Armstrong, a lawyer with a shrewish wife who plots to murder her and a business rival with arsenic. Michael Kitchen does excellent work as Armstrong, playing him as extremely conniving, but also horribly pathetic and weak. David Thewlis does a great turn as well as terminally shy fellow lawyer Oswald Martin, whom Armstrong attempts to murder because of a real estate deal gone south.
These performances are worth watching "Dandelion Dead" alone, as well as the interesting true-life story, but director Hodges fails to really delve into the psychological thriller aspects of the material, which seem so apparent, so the whole experience fails to really connect with the viewer emotionally.
The story follows Major Armstrong, a lawyer with a shrewish wife who plots to murder her and a business rival with arsenic. Michael Kitchen does excellent work as Armstrong, playing him as extremely conniving, but also horribly pathetic and weak. David Thewlis does a great turn as well as terminally shy fellow lawyer Oswald Martin, whom Armstrong attempts to murder because of a real estate deal gone south.
These performances are worth watching "Dandelion Dead" alone, as well as the interesting true-life story, but director Hodges fails to really delve into the psychological thriller aspects of the material, which seem so apparent, so the whole experience fails to really connect with the viewer emotionally.