BLAST FROM THE PAST
It's 1989, again, in ‘Menendez: Blood Brothers’
IT’S not surprising that not one, but two, TV movies were made in 1994 — five years after the grisly Menendez double murders in tony Beverly Hills.
The story has all the hallmarks of lurid entertainment: the facade of wealth and privilege masking an ugly family life. Throw in a couple of highpowered guns, two preppie rich kids and accusations of sexual abuse and you’re good to go. “Honor Thy Father: The True Story of the Menendez Murders,” starring James Farentino and Jill Clayburgh as slain parents Jose and Kitty, and “Menendez: A
Killing in Beverly Hills,” starring Edward James Olmos and Beverly D’Angelo, stood in sharp contrast to the bland charms of “Friends” and other comedies in the Must-See TV era.
Nearly 25 years later, we're about to be swamped by another wave of Menendez movies. In January, there was the ABC documentary “Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers — American Sons, American Mur
derers.” “Law & Order” executive producer Dick Wolf will release his limited-series version of the story with a highprofile cast in the fall.
So, in the meantime, we have Lifetime’s “Menendez: Blood Brothers.” What is there left to say about these two? The original trial end- ed in January 1994 with a hung jury. Tried again in 1995, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of first-degree murder. Both were sentenced to two consecu- tive life terms without parole. Besides going over some very well-trod ground, this cheesetastic production, from “Million
Dollar Listing” producers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, is the antithesis of Ryan Murphy’s “The People v. O.J.
Simpson,” which took another oft-told story and made it seem freshfres again, with rich, texturedtex performances. TheT “Blood Brothers” screenplay doesn’t offer much insight into the behavior that drove Lyle and Erik to shoot their parentsp — while they sat eating ice cream and watching TV — aside from the testimony that Jose Menendez (Benito Martinez) sexually abused them. (Most of which was ruled inadmissible at the trial.) For “star power,” we get the genuine puzzlement of rock ’n roll refugee Courtney Love as Kitty Menendez, who repeatedly appears as an apparition (dressed in white, like a ghost!) in Erik’s jail cell and in the courtroom while Erik is on the witness stand. Why did anybody think this was a good idea? The execution scene is creepy and amateurish.
As for the Menendez boys, Lyle (Nico Tortorella) comes off as the cold, greedy mastermind portrayed by the prosecution, equally interested in manipulating his brother as he was in getting his hands on the inheritance. Erik fares better, largely because actor Myko Olivier suggests moments of hesitation, doubt and remorse over the crime he committed. Meredith Scott Lynn has a small role as defense attorney Leslie Abramson, one that we can assume will be fleshed out when Edie Falco plays her in Wolf ’s upcoming Menendez series.
Maybe the third go-round of this year’s Menendez brothers stories will help us understand why we should care that they’ve been behind bars for the past 21 years.
“I love ‘ The Affair.’ I love that show. I’m just watching ‘ Genius’ now. The young Einstein, who is that guy? [Johnny Flynn.] He is unbelievable. I do love HGTV. ‘ Fixer Upper’ is my jam. I love [Chip and Joanna Gaines] as a couple. They make you want to move to Waco.” — Williams stars in “Daytime Divas” on VH1