The Movie

The name Mark Fuhrman instantly invokes a time in modern American history most people would truly like to forget, this reviewer included. The former Los Angeles detective was a pivotal character in the most socially divisive event and biggest media circus of the late 20th Century, the 1994-1995 trial of O.J. Simpson. As the discoverer of the infamous "bloody glove", Furhman went from overnight media darling, complete with fan mail and marriage proposals, to the most despised racist since the glory days of the Reconstruction-era South, finally evolving into a convicted perjurer whose repeated usage of the "n-word" in a pre-recorded interview caused many to believe that he was the man who helped set O.J. free.

Two years after the conclusion of that media event, Fuhrman became obsessed with the 1974 murder of Martha Moxley, a young teen from Greenwich, Connecticut, who lived next door to the Skakel family, cousins of the extended Kennedy clan. Martha's murder went unsolved and remained that way until Furhman took it upon himself to re-open the case. Working alongside Detective Steve Carrol, the original investigator of the murder, and writer Stephen Weeks, Furhman's investigative skills resulted in the 2002 arrest and conviction of Michael Skakel, who received 20 years to life for the murder.

Murder In Greenwich, a made-for-television movie based on the book of the same name (written by Mark Furhman), is fairly engaging material. Besides being a interesting investigative crime thriller (more so for being a true story), the film works moderately well as an examination of royalty within the American class structure. As the film so succinctly puts it, the murder took place "in the richest neighborhood in the richest city in the richest country in the world", and the two prime suspects were members of the most prestigious (and tragedy-ridden) family in America.

But the film is also a tale of redemption for Mark Furhman, and its sympathies towards Furhman are hardly unexpected -- after all, the movie was based off of his book. The irony never went unnoticed throughout the storyline, either: it is widely believed that Furhman's perjury in light of past racist comments helped acquit O.J. Simpson and, in many minds, allowed a murder to walk the streets. In Greenwich of 1997, Furhman is on some level trying to redeem himself, struggling to ensure that another rich, privileged defendant doesn't escape justice. Murder In Greenwich begins with Furhman asking his parole officer for permission to leave the state of Idaho in order to investigate the crime, and ends with him embracing Dorothy Moxley after the conviction of her daughter's murderer. Is this a full-circle tale of moral redemption, or a shameless bit of emotional manipulation on the part of the storytellers? Perhaps a bit of both.

Murder In Greenwich is firmly rooted in television-movie territory, but it remains an engaging and fascinating tale. I enjoyed its Reversal of Fortune-styled mode of exposition by having the dead Martha Moxley tell her side of the story from beyond the grave, as well as the decision to point the finger of suspicion at one obvious suspect, only to have the rug pulled out when the real murderer is revealed. I was only loosely familiar with the case before watching the film, so the ending was a bit of a surprise. So while I enjoyed the movie on its own merits, I was a bit horrified at the quality of the DVD.

The DVD

Video:
Made for television, Murder In Greenwich is presented in its original full-frame aspect ratio. Right off of the bat, I noticed several flaws to the video presentation. The transfer is excessively noisy, with a good deal of compression artifacts and pixellation. Edge enhancement is all over the place, with some very noticeable haloing and ghost images throughout the picture. Grain structure is heavy. Color schemes are all over the chart, with some unnatural looking flesh tones and slight oversaturation and bleeding. Contrasts are week, with darkly-lit images seemingly receding into the background. For a prime example, during the "lie detector" scene at around 34:23 into the film, check out the close-up onto Morris Bank's face: it is so loaded with noise, haloing, and shakiness that it is in itself the epitome of all the video problems with this DVD.

Audio:
The audio is showcased in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is very satisfactory to the presentation of the film. This is a dialog driven movie, most which presented in a clear and capable manner. There is no distortion or hollowness to the center channel. The orchestral score boasts fine fidelity and complements the film nicely.

Extras:
The only extras on this disc are Trailers for Auto Focus, Eye See You, and Taboo.

Final Thoughts

What a shame that an enjoyable film is ruined by such a horrific transfer. Understandably, Murder In Greenwich is not destined to be one of Columbia Tristar Home Video's major catalog sellers, but the the video on this disc is quite inexcusable. There's a plethora of other made-for-television movies on DVD of equal or lesser stature that boast better transfers (such as many of the wonderful A&E discs.) I would also like to have seen more extensive supplemental material -- the notoriety of both this murder case as well as its central protagonist should have warranted some extra interviews, documentaries, or even a commentary by Fuhrman. Based on my enjoyment of the film itself, I am giving the DVD an overall "Rent It" rating, but there is nothing in this presentation that would warrant a purchase.