The Lizzie Borden Chronicles tells the story of Lizzie, legally acquitted of her father and stepmother’s murders but still guilty in the eyes of the townsfolk of Fall River, Massachusetts. Free of the legal accusations, now Lizzie and her sister face a new problem. One of her father’s debtors intends to collect on that debt which will leave the sisters destitute. William Borden, a ne’er-do-well half-brother shows up demanding his share of the estate. Also, Charlie Siringo, a Pinkerton agent has been hired by someone to investigate Lizzie. It doesn’t take long before more murders begin to occur, each cleverly disguised to point the finger away from Lizzie. Underworld characters, hit men, prostitutes, even family, if they get in Lizzie’s way, find themselves killed in a variety of ways, each gruesome and gory. Charlie becomes convinced Lizzie is behind it all but finds himself battling the legal system equally as much as Lizzie’s cunning and savagery.
The further we get into this miniseries the more ludicrous it gets. The original film was tight and contained, limited to a central crime and the trial afterwards. By opening it up to an eight episode mini-series it provides ample time and scope to allow things to get convoluted and messy. The story begins strong but by the time we get to episode three it begins to lose any semblance of credibility and by the end of episode six it’s just plain preposterous. Episode six feels like a natural ending to the story, too, with all the main players dealt with. Two more episodes serve as an unnecessary epilogue with new settings and characters. It feels tacked on and serves no real purpose other than to draw out the story a little further.
Christina Ricci is compelling once again in the title role. She is short in stature but makes up for it with her steely resolve and deadly use of weapons, many of which are makeshift. She feels nothing for virtually anyone, willing to kill to get whatever it is she wants, even at the expense of her sister, the only one she seems to care for. It’s a role that could have been easily overplayed, yet Christina imbues it with a reserve that unnerving. It’s like a cross between Wednesday Addams and a bonafide serial killer. Fitting then that Christina Ricci was cast in this, then.
As good as she is in this role, the series lets her down. Too many people make deals with Lizzie knowing what she does to those that know too much about her activities. After a while it becomes too unbelievable that anyone would be willing to do anything for her. It’s equally absurd that she gets away with it for so long. The coincidences alone would have gotten her nailed and the local police just throw their hands up and refuse to believe it could be her. There are other times where the screenplay wants us to believe big men more than twice Ricci’s size are being overpowered by her or that she can take full force punches in the face and still be capable of doing anything let alone fighting back. A good script would have taken the actress’s physical abilities into consideration and written around it to make it believable. Christina Ricci is no Rhonda Rousey, capable to going toe to toe in a fighting match with a group of hefty thugs.
Once this series gets going it goes off the rails. Yet it is still fun to watch in all of its absurdity. Once it wraps things up and then continues on for two more episodes though it has overstayed its welcome. This series doesn’t know when to call it quits and thus ends on a much weaker note than it would have had it finished the story off in Fall River, Mass. The only good that comes out of these final two episodes is a farewell between the sisters as Emma tricks Lizzie onto a boat to France, getting off it herself just before it leaves. Emma has had her fill of Lizzie and rids herself of her. It’s an emotional finale but not worth sitting through nearly ninety minutes of extra footage to get through. This is a crazy roller coaster ride of a series but you’d be better off wrapping it up without those final two episodes.
Release Date: April 5-May 24, 2015
Running Time: 337 Minutes
Starring: Christina Ricci, Clea DuVall and Cole Hauser
Directed By: Stephen Kay, Russell Mulcahy, Howard Deutch, and Constantine Makris
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