It seems like the 2020s true crime lifecycle goes like this: A news item catches the eye of a journalist, who takes a deep dive and produces a longform piece/podcast on the case. Then, one of the scores of production outfits on the hunt for video-adaptable content snags the rights for a streaming or feature doc…and if that does well enough, a dramatic adaptation follows.
That’s what we’re seeing with some of the biggest-name dramatic adaptions coming down the pike, from the competing Candy Montgomery stories to the multitude of Tiger King takes to The Staircase (aka the casting gift that keeps on giving). I’ve seen a couple takes lately that suggest that a-list attraction to true crime is a bandwagon move, stars hopping on a trend. But I don’t think that’s true — think about Serpico, or Dog Day Afternoon (geez, what’s with me and Pacino today) or The Onion Field. All true crime yarns, all prestige dramas. This isn’t new.
There’s no shame in admitting that a starstudded property is more accessible and engaging — and, arguably, less “work” — that its real-life counterpart. I’ll give you an example: I couldn’t keep my head in the game with the Dirty John podcast, but the TV adaptation with Connie Britton and Eric Bana? It was like potato chips and Oreos had a baby and put it on my TV. I couldn’t stop watching.
How about you? What dramatic takes on true crime tales grabbed you in a way their other tellings didn’t? Which ones would you put on your “how to adapt true crime for TV/movies” syllabus? Are there any fictionalized versions that engaged you so much you went back and devoured the source materials? Let’s hear it.
Shattered Glass, which I believe was adapted from a Buzz Bissinger Vanity Fair article, is so underrated as both a true crime movie and a journalism movie. It also might be the only movie in which Hayden Christensen has ever been good. It's a total poppy field movie for me.
On the Dirty John topic, I loved their Betty Broderick series with Amanda Peet. I never was particularly interested in that case but that series was riveting.
One that immediately comes to mind is the 2007 movie Breach with Chris Cooper as FBI agent turned Soviet spy Robert Hanssen. After seeing it I started devouring a lot more content on cold war espionage both fictional (The Americans, John le Carre) and non (Ben Macintyre's oeuvre, Wind of Change podcast).
I could totally throw in my beloved Fast and Furious here... Hustlers, Wolf of Wall Street, Psycho, All the Presidents Men for film. And the Enron documentary.
I absolutely hated the writing style of Vulgar Favors (too journalistic/not literary enough), but ACS: The Assassination of Gianni Versace is an amazing piece of art. Darren Criss f*cking BROUGHT IT. I still miss the PTV recaps (and podcast readings) that SDB did. I read & listened to them multiple times.
Have never read Zodiac, but love the film. Stellar cast and a nice look at how law enforcement fails when officers and officials don't work across county lines, because, dicks. The end.
I would add Unbelievable to this list. I had even read the long form article and tsk-tsked over it, but the movie hurt me in places I didn’t know I had.
I watched The Bling Ring on a flight and was quite intrigued, so I checked out The Suspects Wore Louboutins in Vanity Fair when I got home, and eventually the longer book Nancy Jo Sales (author of the article) wrote about the case.
What are your favorite true crime adaptations?
Shattered Glass, which I believe was adapted from a Buzz Bissinger Vanity Fair article, is so underrated as both a true crime movie and a journalism movie. It also might be the only movie in which Hayden Christensen has ever been good. It's a total poppy field movie for me.
On the Dirty John topic, I loved their Betty Broderick series with Amanda Peet. I never was particularly interested in that case but that series was riveting.
One that immediately comes to mind is the 2007 movie Breach with Chris Cooper as FBI agent turned Soviet spy Robert Hanssen. After seeing it I started devouring a lot more content on cold war espionage both fictional (The Americans, John le Carre) and non (Ben Macintyre's oeuvre, Wind of Change podcast).
I could totally throw in my beloved Fast and Furious here... Hustlers, Wolf of Wall Street, Psycho, All the Presidents Men for film. And the Enron documentary.
I absolutely hated the writing style of Vulgar Favors (too journalistic/not literary enough), but ACS: The Assassination of Gianni Versace is an amazing piece of art. Darren Criss f*cking BROUGHT IT. I still miss the PTV recaps (and podcast readings) that SDB did. I read & listened to them multiple times.
Have never read Zodiac, but love the film. Stellar cast and a nice look at how law enforcement fails when officers and officials don't work across county lines, because, dicks. The end.
I would add Unbelievable to this list. I had even read the long form article and tsk-tsked over it, but the movie hurt me in places I didn’t know I had.
I watched The Bling Ring on a flight and was quite intrigued, so I checked out The Suspects Wore Louboutins in Vanity Fair when I got home, and eventually the longer book Nancy Jo Sales (author of the article) wrote about the case.