Indeed, the title itself comes from the sentencing that the Florida judge bestows upon mass murderer Ted Bundy and it makes sense. This was one sick guy who, according to the closing credits, admitted to killing 30 women. And they are worried about Harvey Weinstein?
Admittedly, I didn't really know much about this true story. As a result, I found the film surprisingly interesting and...ahem...shockingly compelling. As the story begins in 1969, young and handsome law student Ted Bundy strikes up a romance with Liz, a young and pretty single mom. All progresses along like a sitcom. But, suddenly, there are some girls missing in Seattle and Ted's ugly Volkswagen is spotted near a lake where the girls were last seen.
Slowly, Liz starts to suspect Ted as well, especially when he goes off to Utah and Colorado and there are women missing there, too. Eventually, she kicks him to the curb. Of course, he winds up in Florida and is finally caught for bludgeoning a couple of college co-eds there.
In a major twist which is apparently true, Ted winds up representing himself as his own counsel. The court scenes are hilarious as he does battle trying to prove his innocence versus the presiding judge (John Malkovich!) and the district attorney (Jim Parsons!!!). Meanwhile, Liz is watching all the action from afar as this is one of the first televised trials ever. By now, she has taken up with a sympathetic co-worker played by....surprisingly....a quite chubby Haley Joel Osment.
At the heart of this on both the starring and producing side is....shockingly...Zac Efron, who gives quite a credible performance as Bundy. You can see how well he captures the guy when they show the real person in footage at the end. Zac Efron can act. Who knew?
Obviously, this movie won't be everybody's cup of tea. But if you choose to learn something about somebody you knew nothing about, give it a whirl.
LEN'S RATING: Three stars.
Dinner last night: Bacon wrapped Dodger Dog at the game.
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