Murder Live! (1997) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers (WGA):

Peter Horton (story) and
Chris Bertolet (story) ...

Release Date:

9 March 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Frank takes Pia Postman hostage on live tv, threatening to execute her after she accepts the blame for his daughter's suicide.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Hostage | Split Screen | Hostage Negotiator | Fictional Talk Show

Cast

Marg Helgenberger	...	Pia Postman
David Morse	...	Frank McGrath
Christine Estabrook	...	Dr. Christine Winter
Lauren Tom	...	Marge Fong
Eloy Casados	...	Tony Grenaldi
Neal McDonough	...	Hank Wilson
John O'Hurley	...	Hal Damon
Michael Cullen	...	Captain Tanner
Teri Garr	...	JoAnn McGrath
Peter Horton	...	Lt. Clay Maloney
Paige Moss	...	Sally McGrath
Don Stark	...	Man in Yellow Shirt
Leslie Ackerman
Lorna Scott
Karen Hensel

Runtime:

USA:96 min | Germany:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

NBC Studios

Far better than most things on TV...

I started watching this movie by accident, because I didn't turn off the thing I had been watching before it. However, after starting this, I didn't want to turn it off, mainly because I rate all talk-show hosts as a form of life right down there with pond scum, and this movie is a smack in the face to them and their pretentious, phony shows. David Morse is very convincing as Frank McGrath, and Marg Helgenberger also does a good job as the painfully stuck-up and arrogant talk-show host. It takes stabs at almost every part of the American trash-watching society, from grossly indifferent viewers who only want to watch the baseball playoffs, to highly insecure people who use talk-shows as a way of patting themselves on the back, and to the feel-good faux-psychologists who spout pointless yammerings to make the audience nod and clap. All of these and more, tonight on WYSB. Ahem. The spotlight is also shown largely on McGrath and the host, whose glaringly opposite personalities provide most of the grist for the movie. Also thrown in are police and certain members of the audience, generally to spice things up. The flick ends with a bang, and at its heights was far better than most of the studio movies I watched that year, I think.

9/10, but if you're a devotee of talk-show-watching...find another pasttime.