The Two Mr. Kissels (2008)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Although the story is based on an actual events and court records of the two rich and famous brothers respective demise Mrs. Shullivan and I were disappointed in the films content mainly because there seemed to be no depth of character to any of the four key actors who played Robert and Andrew Kissel and their respective wives. Andrew Kissel was played by John Stamos, his wife Hayley was played by Gretchen Egolf, Anson Mount played Robert Kissel and Robin Tunney played his murderous wife Nancy. Anson Mount who played Robert Kissel seemed to just read his lines off a script and we could not relate to his character what so ever. We have watched his latter work as the rough and tough railway foreman in the hit TV series Hell On Wheels so we know he has some good acting chops. Unfortunately his character portrayal of Robert Kissel was so shallow that the viewing audience has a hard time feeling any empathy for the good lucking guys imminent fate that awaited him. As for Rober Kissel's wife Nancy played by Robin Tunney, the films director, Ed Bianchi seemed hell bent on parading Ms. Tunney in her bra and panties in almost every second scene she was in and I can't for the life of me figure out what Bianchi was attempting to achieve. This was supposed to be a story based on actual events that lead to the death of the Two Mr. Kissels as the movie title represents. The cheap flashing of a half naked Nancy Kissel (who in real life is a homely looking Mrs. Kissel) just cheapened what could have had the makings of a true life killer thriller.The film provided zero coverage of neither of the actual court trials of the murderers of the brothers the Two Mr. Kissels as part of the movie content. Instead the film focused mainly on two characters, the first being the overbearing Nancy Kissel and the senseless murder of her husband Robert. The second story focused on fraudster Andrew Kissel who was found murdered as he sat in a chair with his hands and feet bound, with his head covered with a sack, and with 27 stab wounds. All events were actual facts but we found the film so shallow that it would have been much more interesting a story if it was narrated by Bill Kurtis of the TV series Cold Case fame. I have a hard time crediting the film with anything higher than a 4 out of 10 rating. I would give this film a pass.

***SPOILERS*** Sad but true story of two nice Jewish boys who got in over their heads in both finance and marriage and ended up dead because of it. It was Bob Kissel who got the short end of the stick in marrying fashion model Nancy Keeshin who as it turned out was as nutty as a fruitcake and deadly as a black mamba.Having and affair with the handsome cable guy Tony Pellicoro Nancy planned to get rid of Bob while the two were living in Hong Kong with Bob a top man there at Meryill Lynch. Spiking Bob's strawberry milkshake Nancy had him pass out and then bludgeon him to death before he had a chance to wake up. No criminal mastermind Nancy, using at her trail a combination insanity and memory loss defense, was soon arrested and convicted in Bob's murder and given a life sentence without parole. That life sentence was upheld in a re-trial making her planned life with Tony, and her dead husbands money, a pipe dream on her part.As for Andrew he went into real estate fraud as well as getting himself addicted on cocaine that ended with him blowing all his money, some 30 million dollars worth, as well as his marriage to former TV finance commentator Hayley Wolff. As we saw at the beginning of the movie Andrew as found stabbed to death with his good friend and personal driver Juan Castillo as the prime suspect in his murder. In was Juan's brother not Juan who was arrested and stood trial for for it.As we began to see what Andrew did to end up getting himself dead it could have well have been anyone in the entire city of New York and its surroundings who did Andrew in since he screwed, out of their money and life savings, just about everyone he came in contact with, even his late brother Bob. Gloriously drunk and about to be evicted from his rented $14,000.00 a month Greenwich Connecticut mansion, With his wife Hayley and the kids leaving him, Andrew somehow got himself killed or murdered before the final curtain came down on him.Sad but typical story of greed and murder in the swinging 1990's and and early 21th century when money was the only thing worth living, and in the case of the Kissel Boys and especially Bob Kissel's crazy wife Nancy, killing for. It was Andrew and Nancy who are the real true life villains in the movie and what did the two get in all the stealing conniving and, in the case of Nancy, murdering that they did in trying to get rich quick without working for it. And early grave and lifetime stay behind bars, at the Hong Kong Women's Prison, for all their troubles.

The film rapidly goes down in quality despite the interesting subject matter and some very good acting here.The story again relates to the time old adage that money is the root of all evil.The Kissel Brothers seemed to have had in made with their propensity for making money. Their lives took a turbulent path because of their financial success.Robert was the better of the two; of course, being a work-a-holic, it cost him his marriage and ultimately his life. His wife Nancy is brilliantly played by an up and coming actress. How she thought that she could get away with killing him is beyond belief.Andrew, on the other hand, who is played quite well by John Stamos, was hell-bent on a path of self-destruction. Embezzling from his own co-op building and others, he was destined to meet his end in the way he did.The individual flashbacks by those within the brothers orbit doesn't work well here. In fact, it makes the film uneven and disjointed at times.Nonetheless, this is an interesting film to view again due to the subject matter.

The Two Mr. Kissels is quite possibly the worst TV movie I have ever seen. Without a doubt, the commercial interruptions were the high points of the experience.The script was ridiculous, the acting flat and the direction useless. I waited and listened to useless dialog hoping for the film to take some direction. It never happened.I wish I could cite some worthwhile attribute of this film. Unfortunately there was none In spite of the boredom, I hung in for the entire horrid experience. The only relief came when the end titles appeared! This trash is not worth one moment of anyone's time! 1/10