• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - Wed on FX

RatskyWatsky

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,931


Inspired by actual events, but based on the Maureen Orth book 'Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U. S. History,' 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story' is the second installment of FX's award-winning limited series, 'American Crime Story.'

This season will examine the shocking July 1997 assassination of legendary designer Gianni Versace on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion by sociopath and serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who eight days later killed himself in a house boat as the Miami Dade police force moved in to capture him. Versace was his fifth and final victim.

This season has an entirely different creative team than The People vs OJ - it was written by Tom Rob Smith, the creator of London Spy.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Red Band Trailer

Cast

Edgar Ramírez as Gianni Versace
Penélope Cruz as Donatella Versace
Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan
Sebestien Soliz as Israel Sands
Annaleigh Ashford as Elizabeth Cote
Ricky Martin as Antonio D'Amico

Reviews

Boston Globe said:
I'm not sure The Assassination of Gianni Versace manages to add contemporary political and cultural resonance to its serial killer story as effectively [as The People v. O.J. Simpson]. ... But The Assassination of Gianni Versace is nonetheless extremely insightful, as well as consistently entertaining.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Variety said:
More saliently, the heavy-handedness slows down the story--or belies the fact that compared to "The People v. O.J. Simpson," "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" has much less story to tell. ... But with an array of fantastic performances and an eye to exploring the complexity of contemporary queerness, American Crime Story has produced another interesting history play to chew on--one with a lingering, intriguing aftertaste.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Alan Sepinwall said:
If you can view Cunanan not as the protagonist of Assassination, but its connective tissue, then it begins to feel more satisfying as a series of tragic vignettes about what it was like to be gay in America in the '90s. ... But Cunanan's just not interesting enough to support so much screen time, especially because we don't really get to understand what makes him tick until the story's nearly over. And even then, it's hard to find empathy, given what we know about all the horror he inflicted.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Vox said:
Assassination may not be as enjoyable to watch as O.J., but it's striking to see how thoughtfully all involved approach a very different story in a way that gives it its own tone, its own themes, and its own grandeur. This is a more difficult but more ambitious work, and it stands as a worthy companion.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

PBEqG1f.jpg
 
hashtagrekt

hashtagrekt

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
685
Wow, first I heard of this show. Can't believe how long it's been since then. I remember this hitting the news like it was yesterday. Will definitely check it out.
 

Deleted member 6769

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
396
Seems interesting, I'll give it a shot. I wasn't expecting them to catch lightning in a bottle again like they did with The People v. OJ, so I'll keep my expectations in check. At the very least, we'll get some good performances and interesting cinematography.
 
Skel1ingt0n

Skel1ingt0n

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,723
I don't know who Darren Criss is... but that trailer kept making me think Simon Sinek is about to give a TED talk.
 
Brian McDoogle

Brian McDoogle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,927
I wish they did the Hurricane Katrina one before this, but it sounds interesting and unlike the OJ stuff, I know very little about this story.
 
StrangeRoboMemory

StrangeRoboMemory

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,757
Toronto, ON
I enjoyed People VS OJ and Feud, but I can't shake the feeling that these productions are more "historical cosplay" than a really serious biopic/docudrama. Just something about the acting style, art direction, and overall tone seems really...artificial (Sarah Paulson was amazing as Marcia Clark, though). I'm interested in this especially because of the new creative team, let's see if they can hit the note that I'm looking for.
 
FireSafetyBear

FireSafetyBear

Banned for use of an alt-account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,248
Still crazy you can get such a book and story about Versace randomly getting killed by a maniac.

Great cast so I suppose I'll tune in
 
Catalix

Catalix

Member
Oct 28, 2017
886
Wait what? I thought the next season was supposed to be about Hurricane Katrina...

Anyway, I just remember the Versace/Cunanan story really disturbing me back when it happened. Really tragic series of events. Revisiting all that with more detailed background info and current day hindsight could be enlightening.
 
Draconian

Draconian

Chicken Chaser
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,402
This was good, although there are scenes where I felt like "Yeah, that's not how it really went down."
 
wbloop

wbloop

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,272
Germany
I'm currently watching "The People vs. OJ" and it's freaking fantastic, so I'm excited to see the Versace season.
 

lupinko

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,154
Hey that's pretty good casting for Andrew Cunanan, they actually went out and got someone who is also half Filipino/white like him.
 
OP
OP
RatskyWatsky

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,931
I thought the premiere was pretty good. The actors are all doing solid work and the production design is on point. I'm curious to know more about Cunanan and why he was going around killing gay people.

Draconian said:
That was the original plan, but that season got delayed to later this year iirc.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Katrina is basically in development hell at the moment. FX isn't even committing it to season 3 - it could be Lewinsky/Clinton or something else entirely.

HP_Wuvcraft said:
Season four is supposed to be Monica Lewinsky.

No idea why they didn't do that as s2.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Because they came up with the idea for Versace way earlier.
 

Deleted member 11157

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,880
About to give this a watch. My expectations are tempered since I've watched all the dateline/48 hours-type reports on cunanin.
 
Vulcano's Assistant

Vulcano's Assistant

Member
Oct 29, 2017
13,479
Imagine the pressure on the production designers when the show is a high profile period piece related to the fashion world. This show looks great so far. I can picture the art director looking for the right middle-ground between realism and trying to make every set and wardrobe a magazine photo-shoot come to life.
 
Last edited:

dead souls

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,317
Decent enough premiere, this won't be as good as People vs. O.J. but we all already knew that that was almost certainly going to be the case.

An hour of Darren Criss on my television every week? Yes please.
 

Deleted member 11157

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,880
Thought it was okay. The opening was pretty cool though. Unfortunately, I just know too much about the case.
 
TheBeardedOne

TheBeardedOne

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,189
Derry
The OJ series was quite good, but nothing about this one interests me. Maybe I'll watch it someday, though.

It's still by the American Horror Story creator, right? If that series is any indication it'll start going downhill now. That series started off great, but is now the dumpster fire of all dumpster fires.
 
OP
OP
RatskyWatsky

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,931
TheBeardedOne said:
It's still by the American Horror Story creator, right? If that series is any indication it'll start going downhill now. That series started off great, but is now the dumpster fire of all dumpster fires.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Ryan Murphy is just a director/producer on American Crime Story. He doesn't write any of the episodes.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,238
Catalix said:
Anyway, I just remember the Versace/Cunanan story really disturbing me back when it happened. Really tragic series of events. Revisiting all that with more detailed background info and current day hindsight could be enlightening.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Is there more info though? From the brief reading I did, they still don't know his motive.
 
Squarehard

Squarehard

Member
Oct 27, 2017
25,837
It feels kind of weird that they entitled it as an assassination though, which seems to be over-sensationalizing the story as we still don't really know the true motives behind the murders.

I mean, we don't even know that much about serial killer neither, so I wonder how they're going to approach this even, without making it seem too out of context, and inaccurate.

I enjoyed the OJ series because much of it was actually still fairly believable, but bolstered by the acting to bring it out.

I'm still looking forward to it, but a bit weary about how they'll handle this.
 
OP
OP
RatskyWatsky

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,931
American Crime Story Versace premiere rating = 2.2 million, 0.7 18-49

American Crime Story OJ premiere rating = 5.1 million, 2.0 18-49
.
 
Last edited:
Moppeh

Moppeh

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,538
I got about 2 episodes into the OJ one before I stopped watching it. Something about the whole production of it felt off to me. I should definitely go back and give it another try.

Maybe it is because I know next to nothing about the subject or I just love seeing Darren Criss get some work, but I am way more interested in checking this out.
 
caliph95

caliph95

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,160
Good thing i found this thread after loving OJ season and it being one of my favorite seasons in the year it was released
 

JDSN

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,129
I hope the catch that Andrew guy before he grows up to become Milo Yianopulos.
 
Last edited:
Lady Murasaki

Lady Murasaki

Scary Shiny Glasses
Member
Oct 25, 2017
680
Watched the premiere and really liked it. I loved Feud and this is something that feels with the same quality and makes you want to binge watch it. It really has a realistic touch, but it also seems highly stylized like a photo shoot. The photography is amazing. The mansion really feels like Versace - Italian, vibrant, alive, not the cold classical approach to Italy we see a lot. Ramirez IS Gianni. I was expecting an actor with more pronounced Filipino features, but I was surprised that Criss is indeed half Filipino. The soundtrack makes it feel so much like a tragic opera. Definitely looking forward to the next episode.
 
peppermints

peppermints

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,654
That guy is actually Ricky Martin? I remarked to my wife that he totally looked like him, but I couldn't find anything online that it was him. Crazy!

I really enjoyed the first episode. Is there enough to this story to last a season though?
 
barit

barit

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
1,163
OJ was very good. Some little fiction like when Travolta tries to fit the glove on his hand without any disruption in the court. That was probably added for dramatic purpose but overall you get a good sense of how intense and crazy the trail was in the 90s. Looking forward to this new American Crime Story.
 
OP
OP
RatskyWatsky

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,931
Anyone watch episode two? I thought it was a solid follow up. We still don't know too much about Cunanan's motive, but the show seems to be putting forth the idea that Versace gave him HIV, which then developed into AIDS, so perhaps that's it?

Then again, he did kill 4 other people, so maybe he's just going through a list of people who might've given him HIV?
 

Deleted member 11157

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,880
That prostitute scene was nuts. Other than that, it was okay.

eta- the Ryan Murphy style is starting to grate a little.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.