Lifetime
Lifetime gives us a ‘Ripped from the Headlines’ true life story that the network claims captured the nation’s attention. This story is barely four years old, with a trial that concluded about seven months ago … and does anyone remember it making national headlines? I think there’s a bit of hyperbole going on here.
Accused: The Karen Read Story centers around the relationship of Karen Read and Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Between flashbacks and present day scenes, we learn that the two dated each other in high school, broke up and reconnected years later, rekindling what would become a volatile relationship fueled by sex, alcohol and jealousy, angry words often being directed at John by Karen, John feeling that Karen was over-stepping her bounds with his adopted niece and nephew (his sister’s kids whom he took in after both she and her husband died). Karen is depicted as the more emotionally unstable of the two, flying off the handle much too easily but just as quickly simmering down and going back to normal. One night during a snowstorm, the couple meet up at a local bar for several drinks, then head to another bar to meet up with some friends for more drinks, but while Karen just wants to go back to John’s house, he accepts an invite to continue the evening with the group at one of their houses. Karen reluctantly agrees and once they arrive, John gets out but Karen wakes up at his house hours later, having no clue how she got there or where John is. Panicked, she calls their friends at 4:30 in the morning to get them out of bed to help her look for John, Karen unable to remember exactly what happened after they arrived at the friend’s house. Because of the massive storm, plows had been operating and pushing snow banks along the side of the road and it’s there Karen spots something sticking out of the snow in front of the friend’s house — it’s John, badly battered and barely alive. Karen and one of her friends start CPR while another calls 911. Both Karen and John are transported to the hospital, separately, and while blood is drawn from Karen she is not allowed to see John (even hours later her blood alcohol level is way over the legal limit). While waiting in her room, Karen is finally given the news that John has died.
Being a police officer, his friends on the force are quick to get on the case, seemingly proclaiming Karen guilty of running John over after an argument, leaving him in the snow to freeze to death. Eyewitnesses even claim they heard Karen scream, ‘I killed him’ several times, while the dashcam video from the police car contradicts that testimony. But the police waste no time in impounding Karen’s car and taking her cell phone, followed shortly by her arrest for manslaughter. Pleading not guilty at her arraignment and posting bail, Karen returns home but is arrested again a short time later as the charges have been upped to second degree murder. Again she posts bail and hires an attorney, but they need to bring in some big guns as Karen is completely ostracized from John’s family, and even her closest friends believe she was responsible. Karen’s case gets noticed by a local podcaster, who looks at the evidence available and how the police jumped on her from the start, and he proclaims that she is the victim of a conspiracy. That seems to be the case as the lead detective has made many derogatory and inflammatory comments about Karen that suggests no matter the evidence, ‘she’s screwed.’ With the podcaster’s involvement, a movement begins to support the notion that Karen is innocent, with crowds outside the courthouse dressed in her favorite color, pink, waving signs and chanting ‘Free Karen Read’. The trial itself is a bit frustrating as the claims of her admitting she killed John are not heard on the video, yet the prosecution and witnesses keep claiming that’s what she said. After all is said and done, the trial ends in mistrial as the jury cannot come to a unanimous verdict. Karen is almost immediately informed that there will be a retrial, and this time she is found not guilty of all charges except for operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The end. Waitwhat?
For what it’s worth, Accused: The Karen Read Story is a very well-produced TV movie for the Lifetime network. It’s got fancy credits and a notable star in Katie Cassidy (although why is she not credited on the IMDb page?), they didn’t have to worry about it being too ‘vintage’ since it took place four years ago, and it all just has a very cinematic feel to it. The script by Richard Blaney and Gregory Small has a lot of public record to draw from as far as the investigation and the trial (Read herself was not involved with the production, and it’s not known if any of O’Keefe’s family, friends or fellow officers were approached), but how much of their personal lives were accurately dramatized or fictionalized for the film? Hard to say, but the writers have done a good job of at least making it all feel authentic (perhaps those involved will react publicly now that the movie is out there). Director Linda-Lisa Hayter also does a nice job depicting the characters, and makes the courtoom scenes very gripping to watch. But there are some issues. The story does engage in some time jumping back and forth to show how a moment in the past has impacted the present, but at about the midway point the movie just jumps all the way back to the start of Karen and John’s relationship and cycles through a montage of their ‘greatest hits’ moments, including a disastrous trip to Aruba and John being unable to communicate with Karen about how she is usurping his authority with his kids, not wanting to completely push her away, but unable to deal with her on a basic level of mutual understanding because of her quick temper. Then we’re back to the main story. It was a pretty jarring moment, especially as it came right after a commercial break and suddenly you wonder if the movie somehow restarted. Probably the biggest issue with the story — and not the fault of the writers or director — is that it really has no definitive conclusion. If you’re unfamiliar with the case, you sit there for 90-minutes awaiting a verdict and hopefully learning what really happened to John. Instead, following the mistrial and a commercial break, there is about five minutes left for a retrail, never shown, and the verdict of not guilty, with a closing scene picking up from the opening scene in which Karen seems to be admitting she did in fact hit John with her car, followed by onscreen text telling us no one but Karen has ever been accused of the ‘murder’ (and was it premeditated, an accident by a blind drunk, or did John wander in front of a snow plow which we keep seeing going down the road?), and that leaves us feeling a bit unsatisfied as there is no real resolution to this story (we don’t even know what Karen did after her acquittal). There is also mention of Karen’s Crohn’s disease and MS, and her concern about getting her medication if she’s in prison, but those things never seem to impact the story. I understand that the case has never properly been solved and the writers can’t make up an ending, but what is the point of making this movie if there’s nothing to really wrap it up? It felt like a bit of a waste of time. Oh, and whoever is responsible for the horrific Spirit Halloween blonde ‘wig’ Jill Teed wears as Judge Cannone should never be allowed to work in the hair and wigs department ever again. Keep her away from open flame because she’s flammable!
Lifetime
That being said, the cast is terrific and at least make the movie worth watching. I’ve been a Katie Cassidy fan since her appearances on Supernatural and Harper’s Island, through to her time on Arrow. Here she has the difficult task of bringing a real person to life on film, someone she did not have the benefit of meeting, only drawing her performance from whatever research she could do on Karen Read. In an interview, Cassidy said she hopes Read is ‘flattered’ by her performance, but that remains to be seen as Cassidy portrays Read as a very quick-tempered woman, almost becoming the villain to the more saintly John. It’s a great performance but Karen often comes off as a bit unsympathetic, and even during the trial it seems that perhaps she feels she’s getting away with her crime. If nothing else, Cassidy always keeps the viewers in her grip, but that opening and closing scene just leaves us with more questions than answers.
Luke Humphrey is also excellent as John, perhaps elevating the man to a more saintly position than he was in real life. Of course he was a great guy for being willing, as a single man, to adopt his sister’s children (we never see the kids in the movie), apparently doting on them as if they were his own. That of course leads to the clashes with Karen, who is more of a best friend to them than a mother figure. But even as Karen flies off the handle, Humphrey portrays John on a more even keel, perhaps knowing that matching her rage levels will not solve any of their problems so he remains calm to help defuse the situation (also it would not look good to portray him has a hot-headed cop). Humphrey just makes John an all-around good and likable guy, and he ends up coming off in a more positive light than Karen does.
Josh Blacker is really the villain of the piece as Trooper Proctor, the cop who assumes Karen’s guilt right from the moment John’s body is found. He is relentless in his pursuit of doing what he can to prove her guilt, but the story leaves us with many questions, namely if he planted evidence at the scene or tampered with evidence or witnesses, particularly with what Karen allegedly said at the accident site. Blacker just makes Proctor reprehensible and the audience has to feel a bit of joy as he’s brought down several pegs while on the witness stand.
Paul Jarrett lends Cassidy some wonderful support as Karen’s father William, Christiaan Westerveld gives a really passionate performance as podcaster Turtleboy, and Ryan Robbins is pretty electrifying as Prosecutor Lally. All of the supporting cast do some great work here, and it’s their performances that really help elevate the story. It’s just a shame that it feels unfinished. Karen Read got her ending, at least as far as the law is concerned, but she still has to live with this every day knowing that people she was closest to, including John’s family who she said welcomed her as one of their own, suddenly turned on her and never believed she was innocent in John’s death. The movie is extremely well done to that point, but it feels like it needs more to truly bring the story to a conclusion (especially after suggesting Karen perhaps was responsible).
Accused: The Karen Read Story has a run time of 1 hour 27 minutes, and is rated TV-PG.
Lifetime