A Little Thing Called Murder

source: A Little Thing Called Murder

Possibly the only Lifetime TV flick I've ever liked but do I like it. This thing is a hoot, and Judy Davis is ridiculously good. Here we are presented with the story of Sante and Kenny Kimes, a serial killer pair, that is - mother and son. This is the sad and sorry true story of a mother ruthlessly using her crushed and twisted son and plowing her way through the world using corruption as her plowshare.

Based on a true story, director Richard Benjamin and star Judy Davis (as Sante) nevertheless give this "Lifetime" TV movie a comedy treatment. It's even possible to view "A Little Thing Called Murder" it as a satire of psycho sexy criminal mother movies. Chewing the scenery like it's made of ham, Ms Davis devours her role. Angel-faced (the grown-up) son Jonathan Jackson (as Kenneth "Kenny" Kimes) is her main accomplice. He and the supporting cast stay out of the way and allow Davis and Mr. Benjamin to do their thing. We get why Mr. Jackson went south, but wonder about Davis' character. The subject isn't all that funny, but Davis certainly seems to be having fun. If you relish Davis, chances are you will too. ****** A Little Thing Called Murder (1/23/06) Richard Benjamin ~ Judy Davis, Jonathan Jackson, Chelcie Ross, Cynthia Stevenson

I think Jonathan Jackson as Kenny played the part to perfection; they both had a great chemistry b/w them as a sadistic son and mother, they played very well off each other. I always thought Jonathan Jackson should of made it BIG time, because he's a better actor than a lot of these other actors who keep getting all the movie roles. I would love for Jonathan Jackson to team up w/Clint Eastwood, and/or another BIG NAME director -- its time for this talented gem to shine. the movie was great, i feel bad for the families (of the victims) that came in contact w/these lunatics and ended up dead. Its a crazy world we live in.

This mother-and-son couple (sometimes a triple, if they pick up another nasty type along their merry way) travel around the country insinuating their way into people's lives, bilking and killing them. It's based on a true story and it's done in a documentary style, with "witnesses" being "interviewed" on camera and so forth. I don't really know how accurate it is historically, not having followed the actual case -- two tawdry pinheads who see others as nothing more than targets. In real life, Mrs. Kimes, like some other people who are into manipulation and power, was probably stomach-churning. There's a pun lurking in there somewhere. "Kimes" = "chyme." "Stomach-churning." (An awful pun, come to think of it. Can I take it back?) The movie is played for laughs. Murders take place off screen. Everyone overacts as if projecting to the farther rows of the Colosseum. Especially Judy Davis. She wears this TERRIFIC black wig that comes across like a Bishop's miter. The gyri of her overly made-up face constantly rearrange themselves like a holographic relief map of various rugged areas -- Bashkortistan, Nepal, The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes -- morphed from one to another by computer graphics. My God, I never knew there were so many expressions available to the human puss. Her gestures are equally broad and her voice changes from wheedling to shrieking in a picosecond as circumstances demand. Her proper-looking son on the other hand, though obedient, is reserved and efficient in a more ruthless, less theatrical way. They must have had a lot of fun making this movie about two serial killers. All the stops are pulled out. If you liked "Mommie Dearest" you ought to love this one. They could use the same tag line -- "The Biggest Mother of Them All."

If you had a mother like the one in this picture, I would begin to wonder how you ever deserved such a horrible position in Life. It sure is a great comedy and at the same time a drama that keeps you wondering just how things will eventually turn out in the very end. If you go out to dinner, you had better worry about the salt and pepper shakers and all morale codes of conduct are completely disregarded. The picture is a bit drawn out and you begin to wonder just when justice will prevail. This is a true story and you really feel sorry for the poor people involved in this family, but you just have to remember it is only a film, so sit back and enjoy the Comedy in this film.

Jonathan Jackson was the best thing about the movie. Judy Davis had the showier role, but it was Jackson who drew me in. Kenny's arc, from a teenager who tried to rebel against his mother but failed, to a young killer, to a broken man too pretty to last in jail, to a hardened prisoner finally coming out from under his mother's thumb, was epic. And Jackson's subtle, powerful performance actually made me feel empathy for what in reality is a convicted murderer. Now that's good acting. This kid is impressive. He led me through Kenny's transformation, from his rebellion to his capitulation and despair, and then to his rebirth into a killer, and final transformation into becoming a man, in a sense, by separating himself from his mother. The human and weirdly Oedipal undertones in this movie were fascinating. I enjoyed it.

Judy Davis will certainly merit an Emmy nomination come the next time they hand those awards out. She is absolutely fabulous in "A Little Thing Called Murder." Despicable, insane, brutal are just some of the many adjectives that can be used to describe Miss Davis's brilliant performance as grifter Sante Kimes. This woman, who apparently was born to do evil, is everything you wouldn't want in a person. Manipulative, maniacal and just outrageous. Slapping her child and then blaming the security guard for it is just the tip of the iceberg. Killing just comes natural to Sante. Whether it's drowning or strangulation, she is up to the task completely. The worst thing that ever happened to her son was when she is released from prison after a 4 year stint of enslaving maids. She is back home to mold him into her evil ways and what a job she did. Kudos to the makeup artist for making Davis old and ugly with an almost matronly look that anyone might just sympathize with. That's of course until she opens her mouth. It's as if the whole world is against her, which of course is her basic trouble. Absorbing film. Judy Davis, you're one heck of a great actress!

This movie was really good. It's the best movie ever made about this case. I'm gonna read the book that it's based on. Great acting, costumes, production, set decoration, directing, photography, script, and portrayal of this real story and events. Spoilers Coming Up! Sante' Kimes was a spoiled brat who did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, hurt other people without a care in the world for their well being and best interest. She enslaved women and beat them with hot irons and other things. That's what sent her to prison with a five year sentence, (she only served three). But she didn't learn anything from it, because she began her felonious behavior again the minute she was released. She also lured her son Kenny in with her. The Kimes most certainly are guilty of killing Irene Silvermen and the two men. They can deny it all they want, but everyone else knows the truth. The book that the maid gave Kenny with the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" would have been good for Kenny, and I think things would have been different for him if he had been able to keep that book. She could also have used that story herself. I hope Sante and Kenny Kimes both have lives filled with misery. They should have been given the death penalty. Rot in prison both of you, ha-ha. I give this movie an 8/10 star rating.

"A Little Thing Called Murder" is another TV movie about Sante and Kenny Kimes, the real-life mother and son con artist/murder team. The first film starred Mary Tyler Moore and focused mainly on the murder of Irene Silverman, the New York woman killed for her brownstone and whose body was never found. (Court TV also did a documentary on them.) In this version, the murder of Irene is at the end of the movie. Director Richard Benjamin takes us through the bizarre life of Sante, with each crime a new episode that begins with the title "A Little" - which is how Sante thought of her crimes - A Little Problem with the Maid (slavery), A Little Problem with the Check, etc. Now in prison, Sante Kimes must be in life as over the top as depicted by Mary Tyler Moore - and if you thought Moore was outrageous, wait until you see Judy Davis sink her teeth into Sante. The approach in this film is more of dark comedy, though much of it is quite shocking. Davis' performance can only be described as out there - and probably accurate. Sante thoroughly corrupts her young son, played here by adorable Jonathan Jackson, which makes his crimes and killings all the more horrible. She sets fire to the family home for insurance; she takes a test drive in a car and holds onto it for a year; her Mexican help are actually slaves; she shoplifts, and when caught, she hits her son and goes after the security guard; the two claim to the cops that the security guard slapped Kenny and leave; she hides her husband's death so she can clean out his Bahamian bank accounts; and finally, of course, the Silverman case. In real life, not shown here, Sante actually posed as Silverman, an 82-year-old, in order to sign some papers. Catch Davis performing "Santa Baby" with a boa and you'll know you've entered the twilight zone. She's a scream. The film is very well done, interesting, and intriguing. But don't look for motives or reasons. The writers deliberately didn't explore them. Sante is so nuts, though, one wonders if she hadn't lost sight of her original demons years earlier.