"Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial In Italy" has a horribly clumsy title, and Wendy Battles's script has further flaws - the movie, being a Made For TV Movie, can't have had much turnover being greenlighted and shown, and the tale of the Knox/Kercher tragedy gets a fairly facile treatment; it's hard not to feel both families have a point in their criticisms. It all seems rushed, and the whole affair needs more time (or possibly a bit more distance between events)... although it's doubtful any period of time would have been enough for some viewers.
The movie does try not to take sides (the scenes around Meredith Kercher's murder are only shown in flashback, and filmed so the actual killing isn't shown), but the overemphasis on forensics and the tendency to be a little remote in its treatment of the characters means it never really connects with the viewers.
Fortunately, the actors are a lot better than their material - in a change of pace role for her, Hayden Panettiere demonstrates (again) that she's a very underrated actress; Vincent Riotta is also excellent as the prosecutor intent on sending her up (and succeeding in the short term). The film's worth watching primarily for them (though most of the rest of the cast is pretty good as well), but a better script would have done all the good in the world.
Film The writing problems don't end with the title.
"Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial In Italy" has a horribly clumsy title, and Wendy Battles's script has further flaws - the movie, being a Made For TV Movie, can't have had much turnover being greenlighted and shown, and the tale of the Knox/Kercher tragedy gets a fairly facile treatment; it's hard not to feel both families have a point in their criticisms. It all seems rushed, and the whole affair needs more time (or possibly a bit more distance between events)... although it's doubtful any period of time would have been enough for some viewers.
The movie does try not to take sides (the scenes around Meredith Kercher's murder are only shown in flashback, and filmed so the actual killing isn't shown), but the overemphasis on forensics and the tendency to be a little remote in its treatment of the characters means it never really connects with the viewers.
Fortunately, the actors are a lot better than their material - in a change of pace role for her, Hayden Panettiere demonstrates (again) that she's a very underrated actress; Vincent Riotta is also excellent as the prosecutor intent on sending her up (and succeeding in the short term). The film's worth watching primarily for them (though most of the rest of the cast is pretty good as well), but a better script would have done all the good in the world.