Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me - The Ted Bundy Story
by Paul Shapiro
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Actor: Barbara Hershey, Billy Campbell, Brenda James, Kevin Dunn, Suki KaiserDirector: Paul Shapiro
Brand: Echo
Producer: Barbara Lieberman
Producer: Gigi Boyd
Producer: Kay Hoffman
Producer: Philip K. Kleinbart
Writer: Ann Rule
Writer: Matthew McDuffie
Writer: Matthew Tabak
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Original recording remastered
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 120 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-27
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Platinum Disc
DVD Reviews of Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me - The Ted Bundy Story
DVD Review: Fairly Disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this DVD after reading Ann Rule's fascinating book of the same name. A longtime fan of both Billy Campbell and Barbara Hershey, I was anxious to see their portrayal of Rule's riveting (and true) story about her longtime friendship with Ted Bundy. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
Everyone knows that made-for-TV movies often lack the quality acting and scripting of feature films, and this one was no exception. Although I know Hershey and Campbell to be fine actors, I think the poor quality of the script dragged them down in this instance. The most riveting feature of Rule's book was her emotional dilemma in trying to reconcile the Ted Bundy she knew as a witty, giving friend with the gruesome serial killer he became. Rule's struggle about what she feels for Bundy -- if she should stand by him or turn her back on him -- just doesn't come across in this movie, nor does the lingering affection she feels for the man even AFTER she accepts what he's done. Perhaps it's because so much of the development of the Rule/Bundy friendship is either changed or left out entirely. In my opinion, the weak script just didn't provide enough opportunity for Campbell and Hershey to generate any kind of chemistry at all.
More often than not, Hershey portrays Rule as someone who is often annoyed with Ted and simply tolerates him even BEFORE she learns what he's done. I never really buy them as good friends at all. I did not get the same impression from Rule's book in which she seems to feel rushes of emotion for Ted, and often wants to protect him as a big sister might. Certainly Rule detested Ted's acts and felt betrayed by him, but right up until the end, she felt true emotion for the friend she once knew. I don't get any of that from Hershey's version. Campbell's performance as Bundy is ok -- even decent at certain times - but again, a weak script limits him.
Factually, this movie is riddled with glaring mistakes that will really annoy someone familiar with Bundy's murder sprees. The changing of victims' names is totally justified, but things like the circumstances of Bundy's final arrest, his two escapes from jail, the way he flees from the Chi Omega crime scene, and even the color of his VW are unecessarily rewritten -- and not even in a way that improves the drama. Bundy's famous kidnapping and murder of two girls from Lake Sammamish State Park in 1974 is left out altogether.
Perhaps this patched together TV movie was even more disappointing because the source material was so rich -- and so wasted. I don't know if Ann Rule wrote the teleplay, but if she did, that's even more of a crime. The emotion between important "characters" -- all based on real people -- just falls flat.
I have not seen the Mark Harmon TV-movie on Bundy (The Deliberate Stranger), but from what I can gather, you'd be better off obtaining and watching this one rather than the Campbell/Hershey version.
Description of Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me - The Ted Bundy Story
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