Advertisement

‘The Positively True Adventures . . . ‘

Share

This Emmy-winning, comical, bulbous 1993 cable production offers new evidence of TV’s crime gluttony, and HBO’s intent to redefine some docudrama as farce. It’s a dark-comedy version of a case in which the mom, Wanda Holloway (Holly Hunter, left), hopes to get a spot for her daughter on the high school cheerleading team. And she hopes to do it by allegedly having the mother of a rival killed. The film is tailor-made (by writer Jane Anderson) for Michael Ritchie, a director noted for movies that depict the dark side of competition: “Downhill Racer,” “The Candidate” and “Smile.” Beau Bridges (right), as the shady Terry Harper, and Swoosie Kurtz, as his disturbed wife, steal the show (HBO Monday at 5:15 a.m.).

Advertisement