Pick of the Week: The Assassination of Gianni Versace – American Crime Story
If you thought The People v OJ Simpson was a one-off hit, prepare to be stylishly corrected. Ryan Murphy (king of anthologising such shows as American Horror Story) has done it again with this new true crime drama, which tells the events of The Assassination of Gianni Versace. We’re slickly sashayed back to 1997, when the pink dressing gown-wearing fashion designer was gunned down in Miami. It was a murder that happened at the height of gaudy fame and sunbathed glitz, and Murphy’s series gorgeously wallows in the vibrance of it all, filling the frame with vivid colours, delicious costumes and super-slick camera moves. There’s no mystery, of course, as to who the assassin was: that’s Andrew Cunanan, played by Glee’s Darren Criss with a magnetic presence – almost as if he’s staking claim to the screen before Penelope Cruz can walk on set and try to steal it as Versace’s sister, Donatella. Between the two, Edgar Ramirez is almost understated as Gianni, as we fly back to see the first meeting between him and his eventual killer in a nightclub. It’s an electrifying encounter, one made more so by Criss’ compelling portrayal of a man who can’t seem to stop lying, almost as if he’s read The Talented Mr. Ripley one too many times (or just pretended to). This is flashy crime drama at its most soap operatic, and when it’s this well done, it’s hard not to get sucked into its whirlwind of fame, greed, jealousy and Ricky Martin. Welcome back, American Crime Story. This is killer telly.
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