‘My Little Assassin’ Has an Unsteady Aim

Tonight’s Lifetime drama “My Little Assassin” is little more than a time-killer.

Like other films fashioned from real events, one never knows where the reality begins and the contrivances end.

The basic story: Aimless and naive American Marita (“Scent of a Woman’s” Gabrielle Anwar) falls for Fidel Castro (bearded Joe Mantegna) in revolutionary 1959 Cuba after he has ousted his predecessor.

Claiming to be an idealistic man of the people, Castro persuades Marita to live with him in Havana, where she becomes pregnant, to the dismay of the CIA and her mother (Jill Clayburgh), a former OSS agent.

Before you can say “Viva Fidel,” the flag-waving Feds manipulate Marita into betraying her lover by attempting to poison him, in the name of democracy.

Clayburgh gives the film’s most persuasive performance, torn as she is between the love of daughter and country. Anwar is uneven as the headstrong heroine, and Mantegna, who has no chemistry with his young co-star, fails to project the charisma of the larger-than-life figure he portrays.

Never convincing, “Assassin” tries to get by with shopworn “Your life may be in danger” dialogue and a simplistic, superficial view of the couple’s relationship.

How much of this actually transpired? Who knows? Somehow we don’t think Castro served as a consultant on the script.

* “My Little Assassin” will be shown tonight at 9 p.m. on Lifetime. The network has rated it TV-14-SL (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14, with special advisories for sex and coarse language).