The names were changed but it's based on a true story of the events in Skidmore, Missouri and the real villain was Ken McElroy who was very much like John Gotti without the class, style, and grace of his demeanor. He had fathered children with two women who lived together. No, not because he's a polygamist. In this movie, the McElroy character is played chillingly by Brian Dennehy who is one of America's finest actors on stage, film or television.
Oscar Winner Marcia Gay Harden plays one of his wives with a depth that is easily overlooked. Oscar Winner Cloris Leachman plays one of the man's many victims. No matter what this character did, the law and justice system failed to protect this small Missouri town so they took justice into their own hands. As Leachman's character states at the end "If you live by the sword, you die the sword." The book entitled In Broad Daylight is equally riveting but adds another level of understanding of how a man like this can exist in the first place.
Oscar Winner Marcia Gay Harden plays one of his wives with a depth that is easily overlooked. Oscar Winner Cloris Leachman plays one of the man's many victims. No matter what this character did, the law and justice system failed to protect this small Missouri town so they took justice into their own hands. As Leachman's character states at the end "If you live by the sword, you die the sword." The book entitled In Broad Daylight is equally riveting but adds another level of understanding of how a man like this can exist in the first place.