Menendez: Blood Brothers is a 2017 television film directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, written by Abdi Nazemian, and starring Courtney Love, Nico Tortorella, Benito Martinez, and Myko Olivier. The film is based on the lives of Lyle and Erik Menendez, two brothers who were convicted of murdering their parents in Beverly Hills, California in 1989.
| Menendez: Blood Brothers | |
|---|---|
 Promotional artwork | |
| Genre |
|
| Written by | Abdi Nazemian |
| Directed by | Fenton Bailey Randy Barbato |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Fenton Bailey Abdi Nazemian Randy Barbato |
| Producer | Jamie Goehring |
| Editor | Toby Yates |
| Running time | 120 minutes[1] |
| Production company | World of Wonder |
| Original release | |
| Network | Lifetime |
| Release | June 11, 2017[2] |
It aired on the Lifetime network in North America on June 11, 2017.[3][4]
Cast
edit- Courtney Love as Mary "Kitty" Menendez[5]
- Nico Tortorella as Lyle Menendez[4]
- Myko Olivier as Erik Menendez[4]
- Benito Martinez as José Menendez[4]
- Meredith Scott Lynn as Leslie Abramson
- Alison Wandzura as Jill Lansing
- Kai Bradbury as Glenn Stevens
- Tom Belding as Male Juror
- Artine Brown as Leslie Zoeller
- Angelo Renai as Businessman
- Ash Lee as Lester Kuriyama
Production
editOn January 31, 2017, it was announced that Courtney Love had joined the cast of the film.[6] Cooper Koch auditioned for the role of Erik Menendez before Myko Olivier was ultimately cast alongside Nico Tortorella as Lyle Menendez.[7][8] Koch would eventually portray Erik Menendez in the Netflix limited series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024). The film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, between February and March 2017.[6]
Reception
editKen Tucker, writing for Yahoo! TV, found the film to be "a melodramatic mess" that "resembles a creepy high-school play" in quality.[9] Similarly, New York Post critic Robert Rorke lambasted the murder scene in Menendez: Blood Brothers as "creepy and amateurish" and felt the film generally lacked any insight.[10]
Broadly's Mitchell Sunderland, on the other hand, praised the film's tone and Love's performance in particular, stating that "Courtney Love's performance as Kitty holds the film together", highlighting her ability to be "over-the-top in one scene, and subtle the next, without the performance seeming disjointed."[11]
See also
edit- Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills, a 1994 film also based on the murders.
- Law & Order True Crime, a 2017 limited series also based on the murders.
- Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, a 2024 limited series also based on the murders.
References
edit- ^ "Menendez: Blood Brothers". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- ^ Venable, Malcolm (March 21, 2017). "Cher, Elizabeth Smart and Anjelica Huston Projects Set at Lifetime". TV Guide. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ Olya, Gabriela (April 23, 2017). "'Cold-Blooded Killers' or Victims? New Lifetime Biopic Takes a New Look at the Menendez Brothers". People. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Lawrence, Derek (March 21, 2017). "Lifetime's Menendez Brothers, Michael Jackson movies get air dates". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ Blistein, John (January 31, 2017). "Courtney Love Tapped for Menendez Brothers Lifetime Movie". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
- ^ a b Harris, Hunter (January 31, 2017). "Courtney Love Will Star in Lifetime's Menendez Brothers Movie". Vulture. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ Millar, Jake (2024-12-09). ""It was one of the greatest acting experiences I've ever had": Cooper Koch is writing his next chapter". GQ Australia. Archived from the original on 2024-12-10. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
- ^ Nemetz, Dave (2017-02-09). "Lifetime Finds Its Menendez Brothers in Nico Tortorella, Glee's Myko Olivier". TVLine. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (June 11, 2017). "Courtney Love Can't Save This Awful Menendez Brothers Movie". Yahoo! TV. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- ^ Rorke, Robert (June 6, 2017). "Don't Bother With Lifetime's Useless Menendez Brothers Movie". The New York Post. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- ^ Sunderland, Mitchell (June 10, 2017). "Courtney Love Goes Full Lifetime in Menendez Brothers Movie". Broadly. Retrieved June 14, 2017.