namseer The life of American spree killer Andrew Cunanan is explored in this series which is truly executive producer Ryan Murphy's masterpiece. Modern American themes such as the obsessive desire to be famous, a lust for wealth, societal power dynamics, and bias and discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community (including the military). Universal themes are touched on as well such as family, envy, self-destruction, guilt, ambition, creativity, and the desire for companionship and love. It's all brilliantly interwoven into the series. The direction, writing, casting, acting, and cinematography are spectacular. And as fascinating and enthralling as this 9-part series is, Darren Criss steals the show with his absolutely mesmerizing performance as Cunanan. As talented an actor as Criss is, he manages to take his acting skills to an even higher level turning in one of the most compelling dramatic performances seen on television in a long time. Criss' Cunanan is one of the most powerful portrayals of a diabolical character in the history of limited series television. Further, the structure of the series, in showing major events in Cunanan's life in reverse order, makes for a sometimes jarring and uneasy sensation which only heightens the viewing experience. If you enjoy outstanding, dramatic storytelling and top notch acting, you will greatly enjoy this series. Of note, the series features an impressive breakthrough performance by Australian actor Cody Fern who portrays Cunanan's love interest, David.

Amy Edwards I was a little girl when the real trial of OJ Simpson for the murders of his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman took place. I don't have much memories of it but I know how it kept the country and the world completely addicted for most a year.I've watched a lot of footage about that case including the great ESPN documentary 'OJ: Made in America' so don't mind me if I compare the two as they were released within months of each other. Let's begin with the good points first. The overall performance of the cast is spot on. They added some drama in their play to make it more excited but it was pretty accurate in general. I was particularly amazed by Sarah Paulson, Courtney B.Vance and Sterling K.Brown. Those 3 really nailed it. They brought a touch of empathy to the real people they are impersonate in the show as we follow them behind the scenes and discover a new side of them. Sarah deserved her Emmy for her performance as Marcia Clark. I remember how Marcia looked like an Iron lady when she took the stand but Sarah made her more vulnerable than she looked and I take this as a big plus. When I see the real Marcia getting interviewed, I feel this side of her and it's good to see.The rest of the cast is not bad either except for Cuba Gooding Jr and John Travolta who I truly think were far from being the best choice to play the part of OJ and Shapiro but I will talk about this later on alongside another issue.I also liked how the trial itself was accurately presented. You can feel a lot of research has been done to make it look like as real as possible. Of course you can't expect any suspense in that show as we all know how it turned out. I wish we could have seen the Goldmans more often especially how they are coping with the death of their beloved son instead of Rob Kardashian and his family who is appearing way too often without bringing anything. The Goldman and Browns would have however more than you can imagine.Which brings me to my main issue about this show: Where is Ron Shipp?? For the people who are not very familiar with him, Ron was one of the best friends of OJ and Nicole. He was a member of the LAPD and a close witness of what was happening in their marriage especially the domestic abuse. He's also the one whom Simpson confessed having dreams of killing Nicole. But here in that show, he doesn't appear at all! He's not even mentioned once in the 10 episodes. Not once while he's definitely a center piece of the case. That's something OJ made in America didn't miss as Ron was one of the main part of the cast as he shone the light about what was going on in the Simpson Marriage. They should have made him part of the story as he would have brought so much. Having him completely removed is gross negligence at least for me.Now about Cuba Gooding Jr. He should not have been the one casted for the role of OJ. OJ was charismatic and impressive. He made the show before the camera and he still does today. Cuba is a great actor but he just doesn't have that presence. To be honest he's looking like a pawn in that show. He's also way too small and not as athletic as the real OJ was. If there is one actor who would have been better, it should have been Denzel Washington. He has the charisma and the body. It should have been him.And John Travolta as Robert Shapiro is a complete joke. I truly don't know why they chose such a bad actor to undertake the part of that colorful lawyer. I watched a lot of footage of Shapiro and he never gesticulated in the manner Travolta did, ever. Instead he was someone much restrained in front of the camera, he sure wanted the attention but Travolta, with his grand gesture frenzy makes him look like a clown. To be honest I never had a high opinion of John Travolta and he surely not redeemed himself with that performance. I'd rather say he buried himself a few feet more.But besides that, I would give the show a high mark as it deserves it. It's not perfect but it surely does the job.

Bertaut What's interesting about this season of ACS is the narrative structure. The opening scene sees Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) murder Versace (Edgar Ramírez), and the show then goes backwards, with each episode set earlier than the previous one, an achronological structure that unifies form and content; this isn't about a murder, it's about how Cunanan became a serial killer. Within this, the show deals with two interrelated issues; 1) the concept that one must work hard to be successful, and 2) the desire to be remembered. Cunanan is obsessed with the second, but unwilling to acknowledge the first, despite his conviction of his own greatness. His attitude is nicely critiqued by Versace himself ("Life isn't about convincing people you can do great things. It's about doing them"), and the last shot masterfully encapsulates much of Cunanan's deepest existential fears. For all that, however, the season is good, but not great. The last two episodes are far and away the strongest, especially Jon Jon Briones as Modesto, Cunanan's detestable father, but, overall, it isn't a patch on 'The People v. O.J. Simpson'.7/10

redheadolga Whatever critics say, this season indisputably has one thing - it has style. It's provocative. It has enough truth to it to make it believable and enough lies to make it memorable. That's exactly how legends are made.