All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story | |
---|---|
Genre | Crime Drama |
Written by | Julie Hébert |
Directed by | Lloyd Kramer |
Starring | Penelope Ann Miller Mercedes Ruehl Omar Anguiano Rena Owen |
Music by | Howard Aye Domenic Troiano Jon Stancer (uncredited) |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | Sonny Grosso Larry Jacobson |
Producer | J. Miles Dale |
Production location | Toronto |
Cinematography | Brian R.R. Hebb |
Editor | David Hicks |
Running time | 120 minutes |
Production company | Grosso-Jacobson Productions |
Original release | |
Network | USA Network |
Release |
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All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story is a 2000 American biographical crime drama television film based on the real-life story of Mary Kay Letourneau's repeated illegal relationship with her sixth-grade student Vili Fualaau. [1] [2] The film premiered on USA Network on January 18, 2000, and was followed with a special entitled Letourneau: Live, which featured interviews with Letourneau and others involved with the scenario. [3]
The lead role of Letourneau was played by actress Penelope Ann Miller and filming took place in Toronto during 1999. [2] Letourneau cooperated with the film's producers. As she could not receive profits from the film per the "Son of Sam law", her fees were placed in a trust fund for her children. [2] As a way of developing her role, Miller corresponded with Letourneau over the telephone. [4]
Critical reception for All-American Girl was mixed. [5] Charleston Daily Mail praised the film, writing, "More than just a tawdry detour into the Jerry Springer/Ricki Lake cesspool of shock value, this film presents a sympathetic look at a confused woman who still contends that Vili is her destined soulmate, the love of her life." [6] The Los Angeles Daily News was more mixed in their review, praising the filmmakers for putting "a little care and thought into their production" and that it did not "waste one's time or aggressively insult one's intelligence" while also stating that the film was "ultimately unsatisfying" and did not "provide much insight into the case". [7] Variety panned the film overall, writing that it "wastes a good opportunity to shed light on some really screwed up people. Despite Penelope Ann Miller's eerie resemblance to Seattle's infamous seductress, this factual telepic about the world's most 'giving' teacher offers little insight and is buried underneath overblown production values." [8]
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and three Goya Awards, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards. She is the only Spanish actress to have won an Academy Award and to have received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Tera Patrick is an American former pornographic actress, writer and model who was the Penthouse Pet of the Month for February 2000 and is an inductee of the NightMoves, AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame. She is a recipient of the Hot d'Or Award, NightMoves Award, AVN Award, XRCO Award, Venus Award, Adam Film World Guide Award, Eroticline Award, FOXE Award, FAME Award, Fanny Award, XBIZ Award, and ASACP Service Recognition Award.
Mary Katherine "Mary Kay" Fualaau, was an American sex offender and teacher who pleaded guilty in 1997 to two counts of felony second-degree rape of a child. The child, Vili Fualaau, was 12 years old when she initiated their sexual relationship. He was her sixth-grade student at an elementary school in Burien, Washington. While awaiting sentencing, she gave birth to Fualaau's daughter. With the state seeking a 7.5 year prison sentence, she reached a plea agreement calling for six months in jail with three months suspended and no contact with Fualaau for life, among other terms. The case received national attention.
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Gregg Olsen is a New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal bestselling author of nonfiction books and novels, most of which are crime-related. The subjects of his true crime books include convicted child rapist and school teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, product tampering killer Stella Nickell, fasting specialist Linda Burfield Hazzard, and former Amishman and convicted murderer Eli Stutzman.
The Notebook is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, from a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is read from a notebook in the present day by an elderly man, telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident.
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It is based on the true story of Joy Aylor, who plots the murder of her adulterous husband's mistress.