SuzanClark --Caution* Spoiler Alert--Having followed this case from the beginning, I wondered why it did not follow the actual case. Though the characters do seem to look like the actual people this movie is written for, the acting does not match the personalities of those individuals. This movie also played a part in the hung jury in the actual case, as juror17 claims to have watched this movie, in that, it helped sway her decision to not vote for the death penalty. If that is true or not we will never know. In the end of the movie I had recounted at least a dozen issues with the movie matching the actual evidence obtained in the investigation of Jodi Arias. The actual movements of Jodi Arias would have been more appealing then the mocked scenes added for drama: In that, as an example, Jodi would not have had the time to develop film to plaster all over Travis's bedroom mirror the night she stalked him (having no way to develop film on the spot)- even with a viewer not knowing this case, that scene was impossible- and over reached credibility. With all the 'easy to reach' documentation of this case out there, I cannot understand why the script did not include an actual-factual story line. It causes me to second think any 'based on an actual' story in the future. Why is it important that facts are followed 'in reality movie making?', for the simple reason that juror 17 in the real case, based her inaccurate vote for a horrendous crime, based off of 'spin', from this movie.

evening1 This Lifetime film does a great job of depicting a pathetic relationship and sensational crime story that became fodder for the tabloids back in 2008.Tania Raymonde and Jesse Lee Soffer are thoroughly convincing as the obsessive seductress Jodi Arias and the Mormon motivational speaker Travis Alexander, whose in-the-shadows relationship was as torrid as it was dysfunctional.As is so often the case in dangerous liaisons, warning signs were present from the beginning. Jodi broke a boundary the first time she addressed Travis -- by barging into a men's room while he was urinating! It was just the first of many violations that Alexander refused to take seriously enough. He couldn't resist the sexy curves of a woman who knew all too well the power she held over men -- temporarily. Guys tended to use and discard her. This film depicts Jodi as an obsessive stalker who, in the case of her latest love -- a man who preached high standards but didn't follow them -- wasn't willing to accept another rejection.I don't know how accurate this movie was, but it does offer an explanation for how Jodi could have had sex with Travis, photographing him sensually in the shower, only to stab him shortly thereafter and shoot him in the face. The performances here are stellar, and the director creates tension as we watch Jodi up the ante, tormenting and then terrorizing a man she seems to both love and detest. Finally, in June 2008, he invites her in for tea. What were you thinking, man!? But then again, Travis didn't use his head much when Jodi was around. Jodi's boundary problems were evident from the start and the movie suggests Alexander had similar issues. He is amazingly open to reigniting passion with Jodi in the face of her increasingly sinister behavior, sending grievously mixed messages to a deeply troubled woman.To this film's credit, we get to know each of the principals in depth, with neither being shown as wholly likable or abhorrent.In all, this was magnificent work!

Michael_Elliott Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret (2013)* (out of 4)A new crime tale overtook mainstream America so naturally Lifetime would turn it into a movie. Jodi Arias (Tania Raymonde) begins a torrid sexual affair with Travis Alexander (Jesse Lee Soffer) and soon she becomes obsessive and kills him. Am I the only person in the world who finds Travis to be a bad guy? I certainly don't agree or condone what happened to him but at the same time I must admit that I found him to be a jerk by the way he just wanted to use this woman for sex, keep her in the background and hidden from his friends and pretty much just use her whenever he needed her. Sure, thousands if not millions of guys do this to women but most of them don't do it to someone crazy, which is obviously what Jodi was. This Lifetime movie is pretty awful all around and largely because you really don't learn anything about either people and we're left with a story of unsympathetic characters and certainly no one to life. Director Jace Alexander takes a fairly interesting "case" and turns it into a pure case of boredom because there's no energy, no life or anything else going on here. The entire film seems to run on longer than the real-life trial because we just keep getting scenes that add up to nothing. This here is more like a low-rent version of FATAL ATTRACTION but without the performances, tension or style. The movie has all sorts of problems including how it goes all out to paint Travis as this clean-cut Mormon who did nothing wrong and just wanted to help people. We get at least two scenes where Jodi sexually comes onto him while he turns away. Yet, minutes later, we see them two in a steamy sex affair where he's the one using her. You can't have it both ways. Even worse is the fact that these scenes trying to make Travis look clean are done in such a way that you really can't help but laugh at them. Both Raymonde and Soffer are good in their roles but sadly they're just not given much to do. When one watches Lifetime you really don't expect quality but I must say this here is without question one of the worst products they've'e turned out.

woernerdavid I felt the made-for-TV movie about Jody Arias was actually very good and was a balanced presentation of a sensational story. Jody Arias is obviously unbalanced, paranoid, has super-low self-esteem, and many other psychological defects. But as the story is shown, it also balances this with Travis Alexander's duplicity. He wanted to maintain the appearance of being a good, pious Mormon but kept Jody Arias as his secret life and kept her out of the mainstream of his life. When he tried to break up several times, he always ended up back in bed with Jody. He certainly did not deserve the terrible thing that happened to him, but he contributed his share. I thought the film was balanced and worth watching.