Movie on the murders of the Kissel brothers to premiere in US, but no date yet for HK
Lights, camera, Kissels!
A new US cable television movie about the doomed lives of Robert and Andrew Kissel is generating some positive buzz.
The Two Mr Kissels, featuring John Stamos as Andrew Kissel and Anson Mount as his brother Robert, will premiere tomorrow on Lifetime Television, a US cable network.
Lifetime said last month its movie was 'based on the shocking true story of two multimillionaire brothers who both married the women of their dreams and wound up dead'.
This week, Hal Boedeker, from the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, praised the small screen venture, in which actress Robin Tunney plays Nancy Kissel, who was convicted three years ago of murdering her husband Robert in Hong Kong in 2003, and Gretchen Egolf plays Hayley Kissel, estranged wife of Andrew.
The Court of Appeal last month rejected Nancy Kissel's appeal against her conviction and life sentence.
'Tunney is a long way from The Mentalist. Stamos is galaxies away from Full House and ER,' Boedeker wrote. 'To their credit, the actors don't stint on the characters' pathetic and ugly selfishness.
'The Two Mr Kissels becomes a timely look at the limits of money. Director Edward Bianchi and writer Maria Nation make that point deftly. Their storytelling is fast-moving, sharp-edged and ... mysterious.'
On Entertainment Weekly's website, Jessica Shaw debated whether she should watch Accidental Friendship on the Hallmark Channel or The Two Mr Kissels. 'My cheesy-TV-movie cup runneth over! Do I watch the one starring Chandra Wilson as a homeless woman who befriends a cop or ... John Stamos as a drug-addicted embezzler who's found murdered?' she asked.
'I'm going with Stamos. Sorry: embezzlers are simply more fun on a Saturday night than homeless people. At least until they get murdered.'
Andrew Kissel was found stabbed to death in the basement of his Connecticut home in 2006, days before he was due to plead guilty in federal court to fleecing banks and investors.
Nancy Kissel was not consulted about the making of the movie, one source said. A lawyer for her declined to comment. And a lawyer for the Kissel family could not be reached.
It is not clear when Hongkongers will get a chance to see the movie.
'At the moment, Cable TV does not have plans to air The Two Mr Kissels, and we have not aired Lifetime productions in the past,' a Cable TV spokesman said. A PCCW spokeswoman said they had no plans to show the film on Now TV, although Lifetime movies have been shown on Star Movies.
