This movie is a dramatisation of real-life events, about a guy who's darker side takes over and leads to murder. As such, there is no dissection of the psyche to explain the lead character's flaws and proclivities. This is just a collection of scenes strung together by people involved in the events, presenting a portrait of a man just like everyone else but who spiralled out of control.
It seems clear there was no participation from Philip Markoff or his family, so there are inevitable gaps in the story. However, there are enough nuggets presented to allow a clear picture to evolve of a complex character.
Philip Markoff doesn't come over as a monster. Instead he's just like everyone else; a person with multiple facets to their personality, who leads a double-life, who hides aspects of his life from other people - just like everyone does. Don't think everyone hides parts of themselves from others? How many people hide their browsing history from others? How many married people have affairs? How many people are polite to your face and then curse you behind your back. We all have multiple aspects to ourselves, but for some people these aspects can be damaging. This film presents a portrait of a 'normal' man, with no judgements or fake insights.
As part of the portrait of a normal man, Philip Markoff isn't presented as some dark, evil genius; he's actually quite bad at keeping his lives separate, he's no computer genius, and he's obviously never watched CSI. He's a normal guy who gets caught fairly quickly because he doesn't know how to hide his tracks, just like everyone else.
This film is exactly what it tries to be, a simple portrait of events that shocked a nation. There's no huge budget, no intense emotion-wrenching acting, no pop-psych 101, just a simple story about a troubled man. I didn't watch this film expecting Oscar-class movie making. It's a made for TV film that delivers exactly what it set out to, a solid film about the guy next door.
It seems clear there was no participation from Philip Markoff or his family, so there are inevitable gaps in the story. However, there are enough nuggets presented to allow a clear picture to evolve of a complex character.
Philip Markoff doesn't come over as a monster. Instead he's just like everyone else; a person with multiple facets to their personality, who leads a double-life, who hides aspects of his life from other people - just like everyone does. Don't think everyone hides parts of themselves from others? How many people hide their browsing history from others? How many married people have affairs? How many people are polite to your face and then curse you behind your back. We all have multiple aspects to ourselves, but for some people these aspects can be damaging. This film presents a portrait of a 'normal' man, with no judgements or fake insights.
As part of the portrait of a normal man, Philip Markoff isn't presented as some dark, evil genius; he's actually quite bad at keeping his lives separate, he's no computer genius, and he's obviously never watched CSI. He's a normal guy who gets caught fairly quickly because he doesn't know how to hide his tracks, just like everyone else.
This film is exactly what it tries to be, a simple portrait of events that shocked a nation. There's no huge budget, no intense emotion-wrenching acting, no pop-psych 101, just a simple story about a troubled man. I didn't watch this film expecting Oscar-class movie making. It's a made for TV film that delivers exactly what it set out to, a solid film about the guy next door.