Tag: january 2018

‘Assassination of Versace’: Criss is electrifying

★★★☆

WHAT IT’S ABOUT Fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot and killed by a lone gunman when walking outside his Miami Beach villa in 1997. This second of Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story” series, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” begins on a brilliant sunny morning, with Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) stalking Versace (Edgar Ramirez) after he returns home. The police response is bungled, in part because the FBI had not distributed posters of Cunanan, already wanted in a string of murders, including wealthy Chicago businessman Lee Miglin (Mike Farrell, appearing in later episodes), and two Cunanan friends, former Navy officer Jeff Trail (Finn Wittrock) and Minneapolis architect David Madson (Cody Fern). After Versace’s murder, his sister Donatella (Penélope Cruz) arrives to figure out what to do with the empire, and with her brother’s lover, Antonio D’Amico (Ricky Martin). This nine-parter is based on Maureen Orth’s 1999 book, “Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History.”

MY SAY “Versace” is a story told in reverse. This begins at the beginning — the shooting of Versace on July 15, 1997 — then proceeds backward, year by year and crime by crime. Criss’ Cunanan starts off as a fully formed monster, then devolves from there. As a point of comparison, imagine that he enters the series as Frankenstein, then with each subsequent week, a new body part is subtracted, until the penultimate episode, when he is simply a beating heart.

If this sounds confusing, it’s not. If it sounds macabre and horrifying, then that it most definitely is. In an electrifying performance, Criss spins his character’s lies so deftly that the violence that invariably follows them is a blow to the solar plexus. When he smiles brightly, the psycho middle-distance stare also follows, and he then pulls out the gun from his waistband.

Nevertheless, this reverse narrative was a risky decision by Murphy because it places viewers in the awkward position of omniscience. As they move backward in time, they know what’s coming before the victims do. Cunanan becomes more despicable, but less comprehensible. Why this horrifying string of murders? The question hangs there, while an answer hovers just beyond reach, taunting viewers, like Banquo’s ghost.

Reasonably enough, neither “Versace” nor Criss wanted to humanize Cunanan, so they dehumanized him instead. They also succeeded so well that they undercut both the premise and title of the entire miniseries. This is called “the assassination” of Versace as an indictment of mid-’90s America, which kept the closet closed on so many gay men, or forced someone like Trail out of the “don’t ask don’t tell” Navy, or allowed a murder spree like this to happen due to homophobia in the police response.

But as far as the first eight episodes are concerned (the only ones offered for review), Versace wasn’t “assassinated” any more than John Lennon was “assassinated.” They were killed by loner psychotic men armed with handguns. This alone makes “Versace” even sadder and scarier, as much a real-life “American Horror Story” as an “American Crime” one.

You’ll also want to know whether this is as good as “The People v. O.J. Simpson” (the first “ACS”), and the answer is no. Based on the Orth book, “Versace” still goes well beyond the book to re-create dialogue that no one could ever possibly know. The creative license is justified but hardly airtight. “O.J.” had Jeffrey Toobin’s book and the vast reportorial record. This has a cipher (Cunanan) and supposition at its core.

There are many pleasures here, however, and they are entirely in the craftsmanship. There are some superb performances — Judith Light as the repressed widow of Miglin is stunning — and it’s hard to think of one that isn’t good. “Versace” gets the little things right. It’s the bigger picture that’s the problem.

BOTTOM LINE Sorry, not as good as “O.J.,” but Criss turns in a dynamic performance in service of a desperately sad story.

‘Assassination of Versace’: Criss is electrifying

‘American Crime Story’ hits sophomore slump with ‘Versace’ (review)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The evidence so impressively stacked up in “The People v. O.J. Simpson” was overwhelming. The conclusion was as obvious as it was inescapable. FX’s first “American Crime Story” season would be one incredibly tough act to follow.

Imagine trying to come up with a sophomore season as mesmerizing and grandly realized as the Emmy-winning “People v. O.J. Simpson.” Executive producer Ryan Murphy and his team apparently couldn’t imagine it, and so we get “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” the terribly uneven second “American Crime Story,” premiering at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Remember how the first season of HBO’s “True Detective” had critics and viewers reaching for the superlatives? We couldn’t wait for the second season. Here was a show destined to take crime-time storytelling to new heights.

Then, of course, we saw the second season of “True Detective” and realized, in truth, we could have waited. The drop-off between the first and second season of “American Crime Story” is nowhere near as precipitous, but it is dramatic.

Certainly the case is quickly made that “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” pales in comparison with its acclaimed predecessor. Although the nine-part true-crime drama has much to recommend it, starting with the superb work of Darren Criss as serial killer Andrew Cunanan, it lacks any clear sense of what it’s trying to say about the characters and the American landscape they populate.

If it seems like it has been a long wait since “The People v. O.J. Simpson” aired in 2016, keep in mind that “Versace” wasn’t supposed to be the second season of “American Crime Story.” That was going to focus on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, relying heavily on Sheri Fink’s book “Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital.” That now will be the third season.

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace” doesn’t seem rushed so much as fuzzy and uncertain. In fact, give Murphy credit for attempting something completely different in tone, mood, style, look and pace. But where “O.J.” was sharply focused and magnificently detailed, “Versace” is ponderous and plodding.

The visual flourishes and grand-opera touches are impressive, yet they often seem overplayed and self-conscious, as if trying to make up for the lack of substance. And there is a decided lack of substance. Indeed, while “O.J.” was packed with layers upon layers of expertly arranged information, “Versace” is a story that could have been told in about half the time.

The second season opens in Miami Beach on July 15, 1997, with a seven-minute sequence almost completely devoid of dialogue. Yes, Murphy begins with the murder of international fashion icon Versace (Edgar Ramirez) on the steps of his opulent South Beach residence.

We see Versace getting out of bed, putting on a robe and making his way to a balcony, where he looks for all the world like an emperor surveying his kingdom. We see Cunanan sitting on the beach, checking on the .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol in his knapsack. They are a study in contrasts, and they remain so for the rest of the episodes, which charts the paths to this collision course in reverse.

In this way, we see how the serial killer arrived at the steps of Versace’s home. They are mirror images, in a dark and distorted kind of way, as if Cunanan is a fun-house mirror reflection of Versace.

It’s an intriguing idea poorly executed. “Versace” makes an ambitious attempt to examine, like “O.J.,” the crosscurrents of American culture, but never develops a strong and cohesive overall vision.

There’s nothing wrong with the cast, which also includes Penelope Cruz, Ricky Martin, Dascha Polanco, Max Greenfield, Cody Fern, Judith Light and Mike Farrell. And there are many incredibly suspenseful and deeply fascinating stretches. The problem is that fascination is wrapped around frustration in this second “American Crime Story,” which is wearisomely lighter on details and slower of pace.

Based on the book “Vulgar Favors” by Maureen Orth, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” demands great patience and indulgence on the part of viewers. Criss provides the most compelling reason to stick with these episodes, and even this stunning performance might not be enough to keep you following a dark trail that takes so many wrong turns.

‘American Crime Story’ hits sophomore slump with ‘Versace’ (review)

TV highlights for the week of Jan. 14-20

WEDNESDAY

After a mesmerizing look back at the O.J. Simpson murder case, anthology series “American Crime Story” from prolific producer Ryan Murphy turns its attention to the 1997 murder of fashion icon Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez). Darren Criss (“Glee”) delivers an astonishing performance as troubled spree-killer Andrew Cunanan, whose path of destruction landed him on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List even before he shot Versace on the steps outside his Miami Beach mansion. The cast also features Penélope Cruz and Ricky Martin. 10 p.m., FX.

TV highlights for the week of Jan. 14-20

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace”: what works (and what does not) – VanityFair.it

(Google translate from Italian)

It is the first time that an entire American series is dedicated to one of the most famous media cases in Italian history. No wonder, then, that the wait for The Assassination of Gianni Versace (from 19 January on FoxCrime), second chapter of the anthology of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story, skyrocketed in Italy, where it is already much discussed.

A few days before airing, the designer’s family has distanced itself and specified in a statement that “they have neither authorized nor had any involvement in the television series dedicated to the death of Gianni Versace.”

“Since Versace has not authorized the book from which it is partially based on, and has not taken part in the writing of the screenplay, this television series must be considered a work of fiction.”

The Murphy series, in fact, is taken from the book Vulgar Favors written in 1999 by the journalist Maureen Orth.

Even if is to be taken as fiction, the opening sequence, dedicated to that morning of July 15, 1997 in which Versace was shot dead by Andrew Cunanan in front of his famous house in Miami Beach, will give shivers. It is a timeless image, that of the dead designer on the steps of Villa Casuarina.

Despite the title, The Assassination of Gianni Versace immediately declares it’s intention to show the killer’s point of view, to reconstruct his story (Cunanan committed suicide 8 days later, without ever explaining his motivations).

In the first episode The Man Who Would Be Vogue are the last moments of the life of Versace, who wakes up in luxury, says no to a fan who asks for an autograph outside his home and goes to buy fashion magazines to look at his creations, which alternate with images of Cunanan, who attempts suicide in the ocean, screams, vomits.

The cast is exceptional. Beginning with Venezuelan Edgar Ramírez, who gained 12 kilos to play Versace and learned to speak English with an Italian accent. Then there is Ricky Martin, in the shoes of Antonio D’Amico, the companion of the Calabrian designer, and the fantastic Penélope Cruz with a platinum blonde wig in the role of Donatella Versace, who immediately takes over the reins of the company .

In the role of the killer, repressed homosexual and pathological liar, there is Darren Criss who, with Murphy, has been working since Glee,  but here he is certainly at his most difficult test.

This second season of the anthology, however, is different from the first, which accurately told the story of the OJ Simpson trial and has achieved great critical acclaim, and won 9 Emmys and two Golden Globes, including best miniseries of the year.

In addition to faithfully reconstructing the process and the media case, The People v. OJ Simpson had been a gimmick to talk about racism, the distortion of news from the tabloids, and the role of women (thanks to the story of the prosecution attorney Marcia Clark).

The Assassination of Gianni Versace, on the other hand, is focused on homophobia from the 1990s, a theme very dear to Murphy. That perhaps, for this reason, he lets his hand escape, dedicating a little too much space.

The series proceeds by flashback, alternating to the present on the Versace case with the story of Cunanan, who suffered the rejection of society for gays and at some point in his life became a serial killer: before the designer, he had killed four men, all his lovers.

The most interesting parts, however, are those dedicated to life and the background of the Versace family. And seeing Ramirez, Cruz and Martin at work is fascinating. Even if it’s just fiction.

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace”: what works (and what does not) – VanityFair.it