Here we get to see Virginia Madsen do both her Femme Fatale and her Biopic thing in one handy place. We see Virginia take on the persona of Carolyn Warmus, the infamous killer in a TV Movie from ABC. It aired on 13th September 1992 just months after she was convicted in May 27th of the same year.The film tells the true to life story of a former Elementary School Teacher who embarked on a passionate affair with Paul Solomon (played by Chris Sarandon), the only problem being that Mr Solomon was already married to Betty Jean Solomon. In 1989 Carolyn would (allegedly) murder Betty in a fit of jealousy. Carolyn would be sentenced to 40 years in prison for her supposed crimes.

Carolyn was teaching Computers at Greenville Elementary in 1987. It was there should meet Paul, who was quite a bit older than her – He was 40, she a mere 23. Paul had been married to Betty for nearly 20 years, they had a fifteen year old daughter together, Kristan. They weren’t particularly well off and both worked to earn enough money to pay the bills.

Carolyn and Paul would embark on an affair, we see it play out as a mutual attraction with Carolyn pushing the boundaries first, even though she knew he was married.

We begin the story on the fateful night of the murder, we see the deadly deed itself, then a quick meet up between Carolyn and Paul at a bar before Paul goes home to find Betty dead. We don’t see the killer, just that she’s been killed.

From there, the film takes a very sensationalistic view of the events. It does its best to betray Paul Solomon as a kind of victim of Carloyns. The press at the time were calling this the “Fatal Attraction” murder and that’s certainly the angle the film tries to play up.How much of a victim he actually is, is debatable. In the film, and in real life events Paul would end his relationship with Carolyn and move on to a student at the school within months of his wife’s death. Now, call me sceptical but a supposed grieving widower who drops his young mistress for another young woman within a six month or so period – Isn’t that much of a victim. Although the film does show this, it’s somewhat downplayed as opposed to the actions of Carolyn.

Virginia is, as always, in fine form here – I think she hams it up a bit, but, again, that’s the kind of movie it is. While it’s a biopic you’ve always got to remember that this isn’t *really* how things happened. Virginia’s version of Carolyn is very much a sex kitten for want of a better way of putting it. It’s almost as though she was doing her Femme Fatale thing. but as a jealous school teacher. There are several scenes which are sexed up. Carolyn’s police interview where she seemingly flirts her way through the interview while being ogled by several nearby Policemen.
The interview with the PI who took pictures of her in various degrees of undress in sexy clothes. Carolyn losing it when she found out about the new lady in Paul’s life.
Sure, Carolyn had issues, before she met Paul. And the murder would seem like an escalation of past behaviour. But, even that is all a little too convenient at times if you read into the full story beyond the movie.

If you find the film interesting for whatever reason it’s worth taking a look at the reports for the actual murder, there is plenty about it to read online. The real Carolyn has always maintained her innocence and some of the items that were allowed into evidence were quite suspect when you take a proper look at them.

I don’t know, I’ve always had half an interest in this story since I originally saw the film and did some looking into it then. Watching the film again as I was doing this project I noticed how biased the film was. It was like watching a tabloid article. There is no doubt with the filmmakers that Carolyn went in with her being guilty with little to no room for any chance of her being innocent.

The ending of the movie does relent on this a little. Carolyn is given a little more sympathy towards the end, particularly after she is sentenced. It’s a shame then that they didn’t / wouldn’t or couldn’t do more with this film. It would have been just as interesting with a bit more objectivity.
Carolyn would serve 27 years before she was released on parole. She still does claim she isn’t guilty of the murder and is hoping to exonerate herself with DNA evidence.

Availability:
This really, really isn’t a hard film to find on DVD, and for cheap. I think it remains a popular one to keep releasing due to all the early appearances by people who are more famous now than they were then.

Trailer:

Press Kit:

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