Many who dream the American Dream often forget that its price might be too steep and that even those that realise it might still be unhappy, in some cases so unhappy that they get mad over things most ordinary people would consider trivial. One such story happened in the real life and was so sensational that it inspired two television films. One of them, The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, turned into one of the finest works of 1990s American television.
The plot begins in 1990 when Wanda Holloway (played by Holly Hunter), twice divorced housewife from Texas town of Channelview, dreams of her teenage daughter Shanna (played by Frankie Ingrassia) becoming member of middle school cheerleading team. When Shanna gets disqualified from the team, Wanda gets enraged, especially after learning that Amber Heath (played by Megan Berwick), daughter of her best friend Verna Heath (played by Elizabeth Ruscio) took her place. She blames the fiasco on Verna and starts to ask her former brother-in-law Terry Harper (played by Beau Bridges) whether he would arrange for Verna’s murder. He instead contacts the police and Wanda gets arrested, resulting in trial that would create media circus in small Texan town.
The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom was produced by HBO, which was at the time only starting to become dominant force in American television. Unburdened by advertising issues, specific format and content limitations of broadcast networks, HBO was able to experiment with not only with different and often “edgy” content, but also with different styles. Michael Ritchie, director mostly known for comedies, often with sharp satirical edge, like Candidate, was perfect choice for the project. Despite dealing with real life story that featured serious crime that could have tragic implications, he treated it with large amounts of dark humour. He also employed non-linear narrative, like many of the independent and “art” film makers would do on the big screen. His direction was superb and also employed the features of the media, with most of the scenes being recorded on film, while the fictional interview with Wanda in television studio being recorded on videotape. Music by Lucy Simon, based on country and western motives, was light-hearted and served as enhancer of the film’s sarcastic treatment of the bizarre story.
However, the thing that truly make this film great was the cast. Holly Hunter, which was at the time Hollywood’s specialist for Southern characters, embraced the role of demented Texan housewife with great enthusiasm and delivered one of the greatest and the most memorable performances of her career (for which she was awarded Emmy). Beau Bridges is also good in the role of her laid-back former brother-in-law who in the end does the right thing. Swoosie Kurtz is, on the other hand, wonderful in the role of his wife with serious mental health issues, contributing to the film’s generally quirky tone. Some might consider such light-hearted treatment of serious subject as insensitive and some might consider the last segment of the film, that deals with trial, a little overlong. But Ritchie generally kept it all well within tolerable length and The Positively True Adventures looks as fresh now as it did almost three decades ago.
RATING: 9/10 (++++)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/67595-the-positively-true-adventures-of-the-alleged-texas-cheerleader-murdering-mom Critic: AAA
