I have to say that Luke Kirby certainly did his homework. I recognized the mannerisms and cadence in his voice from the televised interview Ted gave to the reverend Dobson the night before his execution (more on that later). But as the film progressed, he'd taken that and truly turned it into a very personal and quite stunning performance. His portrayal has to be the best-acted Bundy I've seen to this date, and I've seen just about every one of them. Bravo, Mr Kirby!
Equally impressive is Elijah Wood in his portrayal as the undupable Special Agent Hagemeier, a man of faith with a keen gut for criminality. He turns in a stern and touching performance.
As one reviewer said, the performances of these two are the best reason to watch this film. The second-best reason would be the exchange between these figures and how they tried to understand each other. Hagemeier's faith and position are two things that eluded Ted, in that he believed that he could have done the agent's job better than anyone - he envied Hagemeier, and lashed out at him periodically out of jealousy. His faith in God was another elusive thing about life that Ted just never got. Ultimately because, as a sociopath, he could never grasp the intangible in life. But he was aware of how some people used religion in order to justify their actions, and how those in the religious circles rallied around causes that threatened their own carefully constructed visage. (Again, more on that later.)
The director certainly knows how to get the best performances from her actors, as this was superbly performed by everyone. My only qualm was with most of the jump-cut transitions that denoted the passage of time and fancied internal images. They may be stylish, but they don't work here. They only distract from what we came here to see--the acting! That and the story are interesting enough. There was no need to resort to such visual trickery.
I also came aways from this film thinking that this would make a stellar stage play! I wonder if C Robert Cargill thought of this before altering the script into a screenplay...?
For those wishing to learn more about the Bundy case, this is not the film for you: the premise of this film is for those who have quite an extensive understanding of the case from start to finish, as there are no insights into specific cases or victims (if you know, you'll be relieved he's not on this earth anymore, and I say this as a staunch disbeliever in the death penalty). Rather, this is a tale of one investigator and arguably the most notorious serial killer in modern history, the one who continues to fascinate, and mislead, to this day.
Bundy played everyone. He prided himself on being able to read anyone who walked into his path - it was how he was so successful as a killer for so many years. He knew who would be appropriate victims, and whom he could snow in his other existence to vouch for his character. His rate of success was not 100%, obviously. But enough were taken in by him based on both his carefully crafted persona and the unwillingness of many to believe that he, or anyone, could be capable of the truly horrific things he did to girls.
This was how he fooled James Dobson. He didn't believe one word of his videotaped "repentance" naming pronography as the culprit for his deeds. But, in Ted's mind, he thought that he could corral the religious right into speaking to the governor about sparing his life. This, of course, came to nothing, but there are still some folks who believe that Ted was confessing and was speaking their language of righteousness.
Ted took total advantage of the most gullible people, and he continues to fool others even to this day. As much as he victimizes many, many people who are still tortured, both as the survivors of all of those poor women and as acquaintances and friends who still ask themselves how they didn't see, how they couldn't recognize. Nobody could. Not even Ted himself, no matter how hard he tried.
I believe there were two reasons Ted gave so many interviews to investigators and journalists: The first being so he could relive his vile 'legacy' over and over; and the second being that Ted was ultimately fascinated by, and entranced by..Ted. He understood his own constructed ego, but not why he had to do that when others didn't. He fumed that he wasn't as mentally advanced as others he tried to acquire into his life. He seethed that he was not rich or privileged, as he thought he deserved to be. He was offended that society wouldn't let him kill as he saw fit to. And, he was finally outraged that anyone would want to kill him when he was so 'charming', so 'fascinating', so 'intelligent', so 'knowledgeable'.
In the end, Ted charmed himself.
Equally impressive is Elijah Wood in his portrayal as the undupable Special Agent Hagemeier, a man of faith with a keen gut for criminality. He turns in a stern and touching performance.
As one reviewer said, the performances of these two are the best reason to watch this film. The second-best reason would be the exchange between these figures and how they tried to understand each other. Hagemeier's faith and position are two things that eluded Ted, in that he believed that he could have done the agent's job better than anyone - he envied Hagemeier, and lashed out at him periodically out of jealousy. His faith in God was another elusive thing about life that Ted just never got. Ultimately because, as a sociopath, he could never grasp the intangible in life. But he was aware of how some people used religion in order to justify their actions, and how those in the religious circles rallied around causes that threatened their own carefully constructed visage. (Again, more on that later.)
The director certainly knows how to get the best performances from her actors, as this was superbly performed by everyone. My only qualm was with most of the jump-cut transitions that denoted the passage of time and fancied internal images. They may be stylish, but they don't work here. They only distract from what we came here to see--the acting! That and the story are interesting enough. There was no need to resort to such visual trickery.
I also came aways from this film thinking that this would make a stellar stage play! I wonder if C Robert Cargill thought of this before altering the script into a screenplay...?
For those wishing to learn more about the Bundy case, this is not the film for you: the premise of this film is for those who have quite an extensive understanding of the case from start to finish, as there are no insights into specific cases or victims (if you know, you'll be relieved he's not on this earth anymore, and I say this as a staunch disbeliever in the death penalty). Rather, this is a tale of one investigator and arguably the most notorious serial killer in modern history, the one who continues to fascinate, and mislead, to this day.
Bundy played everyone. He prided himself on being able to read anyone who walked into his path - it was how he was so successful as a killer for so many years. He knew who would be appropriate victims, and whom he could snow in his other existence to vouch for his character. His rate of success was not 100%, obviously. But enough were taken in by him based on both his carefully crafted persona and the unwillingness of many to believe that he, or anyone, could be capable of the truly horrific things he did to girls.
This was how he fooled James Dobson. He didn't believe one word of his videotaped "repentance" naming pronography as the culprit for his deeds. But, in Ted's mind, he thought that he could corral the religious right into speaking to the governor about sparing his life. This, of course, came to nothing, but there are still some folks who believe that Ted was confessing and was speaking their language of righteousness.
Ted took total advantage of the most gullible people, and he continues to fool others even to this day. As much as he victimizes many, many people who are still tortured, both as the survivors of all of those poor women and as acquaintances and friends who still ask themselves how they didn't see, how they couldn't recognize. Nobody could. Not even Ted himself, no matter how hard he tried.
I believe there were two reasons Ted gave so many interviews to investigators and journalists: The first being so he could relive his vile 'legacy' over and over; and the second being that Ted was ultimately fascinated by, and entranced by..Ted. He understood his own constructed ego, but not why he had to do that when others didn't. He fumed that he wasn't as mentally advanced as others he tried to acquire into his life. He seethed that he was not rich or privileged, as he thought he deserved to be. He was offended that society wouldn't let him kill as he saw fit to. And, he was finally outraged that anyone would want to kill him when he was so 'charming', so 'fascinating', so 'intelligent', so 'knowledgeable'.
In the end, Ted charmed himself.