'The Most Hated Woman in America' is the story of the life, career, kidnapping and murder of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the outspoken atheist activist largely responsible for the outlawing of lead prayer in public schools. Madalyn's often confrontational style and seeming assault on 'Christian America' lead to her being nicknamed 'the most hated woman in America'. In 1995 the founder of American Ashiest was kidnapped along with her son Jon and granddaughter Robin, by a group lead by a disgruntled former employee David Roland Waters, with the apparent intent of just extorting money (Waters was aware that Madalyn had been skimming money from her non profit for years). Things took a turn for the worse and all three captives ended up murdered, their bodies not recovered for another three years.
The framing story of the O'Hair kidnapping is interspersed with flashbacks telling of Madalyn's rise to prominence and the impact that had on her family. The oldest of her two sons William was at first very much onboard with what his mother was doing, but eventually developed depression and a a substance abuse problem that he was able to overcome, ironically, through becoming a Born Again Christian. William is now a Baptist preacher and lobbyist in Washington. It was William's daughter Robin who was kidnapped along with his brother and mother, it was Robin's rape by one of Waters associates that lead to the out of control sequence of events resulting in the death of the three hostages, as well as a coconspirator the other two did not trust to keep quite.
An interesting story, efficient film making, Madalyn is played by Melissa Leo and you can't ask for a stronger performer in that role then her. Among the solid supporting cast is Josh Lucas, Michael Chernus, Juno Temple, Adam Scott, Sally Kirkland and Vincent Kratheiser. At only 91 minutes it plays like a high end television film, and I think for the most part presents these people with very little judgment, letting the viewer decide what to think about them. ***
No comments:
Post a Comment