Domestic Violence? What Else Is New?

Murder Between Friends

(Made-for-TV, 1994)

Before Martin Kemp, of the 80's band Spandau Ballet, made it big as a British Soap Awards Best Actor for his role on EastEnders, he tried to make it big in LaLa Land. In his quest for American success he co-starred with Stephen Lang in this Husband Kills Wife Courtroom drama.

Kemp and Lang play best friends Kerry Myers and Bill Fontanille. Then one ordinary mid-1980's Louisiana day, Bill offed Kerry's wife with a softball bat. But wait... Bill claims it was Kerry who was the one who whacked his wife. In comes Timothy Busfield as the prosecutor to seal this case shut and send Fontanille to prison. But uh oh, a slight twist and all does not go as he had hoped.

The telling of this story on the small screen is pretty standard Made-for-TV fare. Since this is based on a real life case, there's no way to really know how accurate it is. The performances were decent all around and never was I feeling terrible bored. Who was really guilty here? Had to find out. And it wasn't until writing this that I discovered who Martin Kemp is and that he's British -- his accent in the movie was sufficiently American enough to pass by my discerning ears.

A complaint I do have is at the beginning of the movie the director showed a whole lotta shots of Bourbon Street and the French Quarter in New Orleans in order to establish where this takes place. That's all well and fine but that must have just been some stock footage because clearly this was filmed in (and around?) Los Angeles. They really should have made the decision to actually film on the streets of New Orleans and then the movie could have achieved a higher level of authenticity which means something to the knowledgable viewer. Instead the producers decided that the average viewer A) won't know the difference and/or B) is dumb enough that we can fool them. Their loss because their little docudrama could have been better if it was more real. Still it's an interesting story but nothing spectacular. Might wanna read the book -- Blood Will Tell -- for more info.

A slightly interesting sidenote, Kerry Myers today appears to be a reformed man, speaking to kids on class fieldtrips to Louisiana's Angola Prison, advocating for prisoner rights and is the editor of The Angolite, a highly aclaimed magazine published behind bars.