Well, what to say. A couple of really good actors. Good camera and sets. But to my disappointment I have to say that the sadistic killing is the climax and thus the real star of this movie. The last minutes of the movie belong to the horror genre. It leaves you behind with a depressed view on the world. I am from Holland, I did not know this woman at all. But after a quick research online it seems to me there's more to this woman. Now we are just presented with some general story line through time. A display of what Madalyn Murray O'Hair did and with whom and then this whole vehicle is going towards her killing, someone sawing off an arm and some more killing. The characters were kept rather one-dimensional. And it ends with pure nastiness. Perhaps the main people behind this movie were very religious? Anyway... it looked all like it could become a really good movie but then it all ends, all of sudden, with the explicit scenes of them being murdered. I mean, why? What is the purpose? Why show it? For what reason? Where's the intellectual and artistic motivation to show this all so explicitly? How is this serving this plot? Perhaps the David Waters character was meant to be the center of attention? This ending would serve a story about the f*cked up killer David Waters. I think there should have been put much more work on this flick. It probably should have become a series. With an in-depth story line displaying real people with complex personalities, who we really get to know. You see that many people put some love in this movie. But then the script just disappoints and thus the overall production. Was it planned as a series and then they decided to turn it into this movie? Seems the best explanation to me. Or was it meant at first to tell this story from the point of view of David Waters but then Melissa Leo jumped on the wagon and she needed to get a bigger part? Overall people just did a really bad job here. With some real effort, with some real good script, developing over a couple of episodes this could have turned into a price winning drama. Especially for Melissa Leo: it could have been an Emmy Award winning role. Melissa Leo is delivering on a high level. But the whole construction of this thing is just letting her down. Disappointing. A 6 for all the good acting that is going on by most of the cast, for the set dressers, the editor and for some choices in directing.
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teteu21 February 2018With poor acting and an extremely confusing script, the most hated woman in the United States tells the story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, president and founder of the American atheist association, focused on her kidnapping in 1995. The ill-executed direction of the film portrays in a poorly planned manner the events preceding and explaining the abduction as well as the period in captivity the atheist activist and his family. When finished watching the film, the spectator can not visualize in detail neither the life of Madalyn nor his kidnapping. Badly made scenes of action, weak dialogues and a dubious photograph characterize this film that, unfortunately, does not live up to the importance of the figure of Madalyn and its history.
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steveo1228 April 2017Melissa Leo is a great actress. Madalyn Murray O'Hair, as presented here, was not a likable person. Coming from the fifties as she did, the ugliness she was subjected to, just as with the civil rights movement, would tend to make anyone re-act like a snarling badger. She was the point of the spear in the fight against the religious tyranny that is, and has always been, right around the corner. The right to say: "I don't believe it and you can't make me." was fought for and should not be taken for granted. A very American story in every detail. In the beginning, I got the feeling it was going to have a 'Coenesque' flavor to it. If the same thought occurs to you, dismiss it. It's a dramatized bio rearranged to feel like a thriller.
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DylanMcChillin5 October 2018This is a prime example of lazy screen writing. There are several things that the movie got wrong compared to the actual events. Plus, it's like they took the script directly from O'Hairs Wikipedia page or a quick google search. It offers nothing new to the story. Hopefully someone will redo it the right way, because it had so much potential.
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kellyq123 February 2020The subject matter is interesting - it's about the woman who led the charge to make sure that state and religion were separate. She was an atheist, but in many ways, she was fighting for freedom of religion. However, this movie takes a very comedic tone to it all, and it covers so many landmark events in her life. So in the end, it feels more like a quirky montage of her life than anything that carries real emotional weight.
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kosmasp19 August 2017Of course that's her real name and not the one of the "character" (real life person) she portrays, but it's fitting nevertheless. She won't take anything from anybody, no matter what the point is. And she will stand up for something when others just idly stand by and maybe even just watch what is happening.
We go through a lot of history of what happened to this person and how she became a fighter and an atheist. The last fact alone may make her a bad apple for some and put her in a corner she can't recover from. But you know there is a reason for this title of hers (and the movie). Performance is grand and it's really a gripping story, jumping back and forth in time. It works and while not many will be completely satisfied with the work/movie itself, it's really something good, with flaws and all. -
referencegirl15 June 2018The true story is fascinating. Unfortunately this film doesn't do it justice. However, with great actors and just enough interesting details the film is watchable.
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kenyae-cagle7 August 2017I watched "The Most Hated Woman In America", and I really don't like the title to begin with and it's pathetic how religious people think they have/had a right to kill people for not believing in their god, who they have absolutely no evidence for. I love how this movie showed Madalyn O'Hair with her support for the civil war. I also, appreciated how outspoken of an Atheist she was and I am proud to say I am also an outspoken Atheist. It also showed how religious people are unhealthy mentally when it comes to their religious beliefs. There is a lot this movie missed out on with her life which pisses me off, but the movie needs to be improved or maybe a documentary should be done on this woman's life. I was also, bothered by the corruption she participated in with a minister. Its also, sad that David Waters another Atheist killed Madalyn O Hair and her family for money.
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Scorchedgoat21 March 2018Unfortunately, the film collapses under the weight of its own subject, which is a shame because it wastes a great performance from Melissa Leo and also the story is fascinating.
My god whoever did the wardrobe and makeup should be fired. Poor Melissa Leo is not fooling anyone with her wigs and fake belly.
The director, who was also the co-writer, seems overwhelmed with so much information (the film is only an hour and a half and it could've been more). All the actors, beside Leo, are terrible and wasted.
I would love to see this subject in the hands of a capable director. It could've been so much meatier. -
Considering the grisly end of Madalyn Murray O'Hair's life, it's hard to see how a biopic about her could have been done much differently, without the tone changing drastically. Indeed the ending, though well known, is hard to watch. This is neither a great film nor a bad one. In fact, considering the nearly universally acknowledged unlikeability of Madalyn, there is a surprising amount of effort to humanize her, especially during scenes where there were no living witnesses to report the interactions. From all that I have read and all of O'Hair's TV appearances I saw during her life, this is a pretty accurate portrait of the woman.
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volsfan20014 April 2017After reading on Wikipedia about Madalyn Murray O'Hair, I was fairly excited to see what this movie was going to be about. Sadly, it does not go into her early life, it introduces her after she already had her first son, William. My impression is that the directors and producers didn't want to take the time to tell her story very thorough, probably because it would have been longer than what it already is. I suspect that to move the plot along, a lot of details were left out such as the other court cases, which I have no problem with. I think if we could have seen the men betraying her earlier in life after she became pregnant, and her failed attempt to enter the USSR, it would have built Melissa Leo's character up more.
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phd_travel5 June 2017This true story of the atheist activist who got prayer banned from public schools is so bizarre it's almost unbelievable.
The tone seems slightly comical at first portraying her as a hilariously brash foul mouthed woman who actually succeeded in changing a major aspect of the presence of religion in public schools and the separation of church and state. The story proceeds to her civil rights point of view and how her Atheist movement grew to a large organization. Towards the end things take a horrific turn - as the movie goes into a true life murder story mode. Had no idea such a terrible murder took place.
One fault is the story jumps round in time and it is clear most of the time but a few less jumps would have been better.
The acting is good and the cast is A list. Melissa Leo is surprisingly good - couldn't have envisaged her in this role - thought more of a Kathy Bates type in the role. Josh Lucas seems a bit too clean cut for the ex felon office manager. Juno Temple manages to play a young grand daughter quite convincingly. Vincent Kartheiser is quite suited to the role of her son who changes from Atheist to evangelical.
Worth a watch. -
koatprdns6 March 2021The directors seemed to enjoy making this movie, for sensational reality that was this woman's life, and sad death; and was probably highly profitable in certain markets. But as a stranger to the story, I could tell straightaway this can't have been all there was to her, as to take up such a fight was more than just hubris. And this movie reeks of the directors' hubris. All points to everyone else that gave stellar quality to a poor artistic effort.
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ulf-635-52336726 March 2017A great opportunity to tell an exciting and unusual life story got lost here. Although I may have forbearance with lack of craft skills. But a filmmaker may not embark on a topic he does not understand or know how to treat and process. This production is extremely clumsily thrown together. Sometimes it becomes involuntarily comical even. Melissa Leo deserves an apology.
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Gordon-1113 October 2018This film tells the story of an activist who goes missing.
I haven't heard of this real life story before, so I find the story intriguing and engaging. It is quite sad that her son didn't care about her disappearance at all. It is also sad that she seems to have alienated everyone around her, when all she has done is to speak her mind. -
stevelomas-6940123 December 2019There seems to be a lot missing from what may be a biased/white washed account of events. Even though the acting is solid and the storyline engaging the whole deal is frustrating.
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TheOneThatYouWanted19 May 2018This film is simply average. Honestly, a documentary about the woman in question would have been a heck of a lot more entertaining. Whoever made this, just did not have a big enough budget give birth to a film based on something that happened over 40 years ago.
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alternika-4065722 December 2020Casting is excellent, acting great. Wigs = wtf. Melissa Leo deserves a nomination; she's fantastic. The story is fantastic. But for some reason the plot doesn't work, the pacing doesn't work, the editing doesn't work. It's like the producers and writers did their jobs; but the director was either hamfisted or incompetent. What a missed opportunity. I could see this as an I Tonya companion; what a bizarre quirky tale to tell, lost to poor organisation and vision.
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sergepesic1 August 2022Madalyn Murray O'Hair was most of all a very colorful character. At the time when women were seen, but not heard, she was definitely both seen and heard. A lawyer who never passed the bar, she found her battle in attacking the pervasive influence of religion on every tier of American society. And she didn't flinch. Being violently antagonistic became her bread and butter, and he managed to make quite a bit of money. The movie in its 91 minutes scans over most of the important things, focusing on her abduction and everything that happened afterwards. We just don't get to see who she was, and what made her the fiery personality the masses abhorred. Shame for this missed opportunity to shed the light on the women who single-handedly took on the hypocritical establishment. She was far from perfect, and the establishment? Why waste words.
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kenbond-5380512 September 2019This could have been a very BIG story. But it was obviously put into the hands of people who were not up to the task. This 'most hated woman' recognized how Government regularly insinuates itself in the education of children, and decided to do something about it through Article ! of the Constitution. I think the subject needs to be re-visited, hopefully in the very near future. Acting performances were very poor, except for herione herself. Grisly execution scene...
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There is an incident that has happened and this event has been handled as well as a little research. I felt like I was watching a documentary while watching. It made me wonder about what would happen. It was a good movie as a cinema.
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uptownmatch27 March 2017Unfortunately this movie is at best only mediocre, at worst a poor job of telling a fascinating story. The actress Melissa Leo is absolutely MISCAST as Murray-O'Hair and suffers through the part unable to capture the essence of a complicated, disturbed, and controversial woman. I looked forward to this movie but watch it with disappointment. I wish a more thorough detailed story could have been told about Madalyn Murray-O'Hair. Better than nothing but that's not saying much!
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gibbs-1817211 February 2020Enjoyable bio-pic of Madalyn Murray O'Hair the most famous Atheist that probably lived. Maybe she's the reason that hymns stopped being sung in the school that I attended in Blighty.. Who knows in middle school it was mid 80s by the 90s they had stopped.
It's always hard to do a film like this because let's be honest you are only going to get one side of the kidnap story from the actual point of the hostage situation. We will never know what happened during those days and what ultimately lead to the story coming to its grime end.
What happened to the gold?
Did his account really happen, I doubt it but again only have half a story to tell.
What is undeniable is the blunder of the police not to act sooner which could have saved lives.
I wish more of the film would have been dedicated to how they got to that point and her life story, it could have been better. She has left a legacy and let's be honest it's the only belief that has never started a war.
BTW yes I'm an.... -
brianlfc-026763 January 2021Was ok not great.But Melissa Leo is very good in it.
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mgumsley12 March 2021In a deeply religious country like the United States, it must have taken a lot of courage for someone like Madelyn Murray-0'Hair to speak out as an atheist in those early post war years. So, I would have expected a film about her life's work to have been more focused and professional. Netflix is good at glossy, polished productions and this film lacks a centre and attention to detail, which has become their hallmark. It is a real pity because as a Brit watching her, the actress, Melissa Leo who depicts Madelyn was about the best thing about the whole film. She acted with conviction and passion, and whilst I have learnt a little bit more about her from this film, the lingering memory is of a film that was poorly directed and scripted, and doesn't show what made her rebel against the system. In fact, the best scene in the film, for me, was when she interrupted her child's class to inform the teacher that as an atheist, she could not let her child take part in religious services. And she backed it up with the first amendment. The sense of outrage this brings out in the teacher is well depicted, but for the rest of the movie, the casual acting and direction made for uncomfortable viewing.