It takes quite a while to determine who the real villain is in the made-for-TV melodrama A Crime of Passion--but once the truth is revealed, it's a terror-inducing ride to a horrifying conclusion. Kindly Dr. Ben Pierce (Powers Boothe) incurs the wrath of his grown daughters Alyssa (Tracey Gold) and Natalie (Jessie Gold) when he comes home with his new young trophy wife--an ex-stripped named Marci Elias (Kelly Rowan). Since Marci's love for Ben seems sincere, the hostility is all on the side of his daughters, especially Alyssa, who is already on the outs with her dad because of her poor grades in medical school. A series of unfortunate misunderstandings and bad choices causes a serious rift between Ben and Marci--and before long, Ben is found murdered. Normally, Marci would be the primary suspect, but the evidence compels the police to accuse Alyssa of the crime. That is to say, the evidence as it has been carefully and meticulously pre-arranged... A rather gaudy example of the "Smiler With the Knife" school of filmmaking, A Crime of Passion was originally telecast by CBS on December 15, 1999.
by Hal Erickson
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