Post by stephen on May 4, 2019 15:42:09 GMT
Every so often, you get a portrayal of a real-life monster that becomes said monster's signature representation in media. Michael Rooker is Henry Lee Lucas. John Carroll Lynch is Arthur Leigh Allen (who may or may not have been the Zodiac). Cameron Britton is Bumblebutt Edmund Kemper. Serial killer movies are a dime a dozen, even when they deal with true crimes, but the really special ones have that performance that makes you feel a chill down your spine the second they show up and make your skin crawl with every second they're on-screen. Such a daunting task lay ahead of Zac Efron, known for his chiseled abs and Tiger Beat-friendly looks, when he took on the role of Ted Bundy.
Unwieldy title aside, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile certainly rises to the challenge in portraying the monstrosity of Bundy without reveling in the violence and depravity of his deeds. In fact, aside from a few brief flashes of crime-scene photos, we never see the extent of the physical carnage Bundy wrought in the course of his life. What we do see is the damage that Bundy did to his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kendall (Lily Collins). A single mother who by chance met Bundy at a bar, Liz thinks that Ted is the missing piece of her family's puzzle . . . until he is accused of violent kidnapping. While standing trial, he is also drawn into the orbit of a dozen dead girls who met horrifying ends. Liz is both desperate to believe in her boyfriend's innocence, but also harbors a secret of her own that gnaws at her even as the evidence mounts against Ted.
Joe Berlinger's adaptation of Kendall's memoir is dicey at times in the editing department, barely able to chart the progression of the decades with little more than costume changes. But what it lacks in scope, it makes up for in the performances. The film has a surprising amount of "Hey, It's That Guy!" cameos (Haley Joel Osment, Dylan Baker, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Angela Sarafyan, Jim Parsons), but it ultimately belongs to Collins and Efron. For her part, Collins poignantly portrays the inner turmoil ripping Liz apart, making her a very engaging protagonist. But it's Efron who really makes his mark in a career-topping turn that captures Bundy's sleazy charm and the horrifying darkness that lurked behind that smile. At the end of the day, Efron stands in good company with Rooker, Lynch and Britton: he is Bundy.
Unwieldy title aside, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile certainly rises to the challenge in portraying the monstrosity of Bundy without reveling in the violence and depravity of his deeds. In fact, aside from a few brief flashes of crime-scene photos, we never see the extent of the physical carnage Bundy wrought in the course of his life. What we do see is the damage that Bundy did to his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kendall (Lily Collins). A single mother who by chance met Bundy at a bar, Liz thinks that Ted is the missing piece of her family's puzzle . . . until he is accused of violent kidnapping. While standing trial, he is also drawn into the orbit of a dozen dead girls who met horrifying ends. Liz is both desperate to believe in her boyfriend's innocence, but also harbors a secret of her own that gnaws at her even as the evidence mounts against Ted.
Joe Berlinger's adaptation of Kendall's memoir is dicey at times in the editing department, barely able to chart the progression of the decades with little more than costume changes. But what it lacks in scope, it makes up for in the performances. The film has a surprising amount of "Hey, It's That Guy!" cameos (Haley Joel Osment, Dylan Baker, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Angela Sarafyan, Jim Parsons), but it ultimately belongs to Collins and Efron. For her part, Collins poignantly portrays the inner turmoil ripping Liz apart, making her a very engaging protagonist. But it's Efron who really makes his mark in a career-topping turn that captures Bundy's sleazy charm and the horrifying darkness that lurked behind that smile. At the end of the day, Efron stands in good company with Rooker, Lynch and Britton: he is Bundy.