Adrienne

[DanaK]

Quote

HBO feature documentary ADRIENNE, debuting WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1 (8:00 -9:40 p.m. ET/PT) and directed by Andy Ostroy, the late Adrienne Shelly's husband, is a celebration of the life and work of the actor, filmmaker, wife and mother and a personal exploration of grief. Shelly starred in over twenty films including Hal Hartley's indie classics "The Unbelievable Truth" and "Trust." Known for her early ingenue roles, Shelly strove to tell her own female-centric stories and wrote and directed several movies including the Sundance Film Festival hit, "Waitress."

Yet, Shelly would not live to see the film's release, hear the critical acclaim, nor experience the smash Broadway musical based on her work. She was murdered in late 2006, leaving behind her devastated husband and two-year-old daughter Sophie. Through candid conversations with family, friends and colleagues, ADRIENNE takes viewers on Ostroy's poignant journey to share Adrienne's life story and honor her legacy, while giving a rare window into how a family navigates unfathomable tragedy. ADRIENNE will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max.

 

[Cinnabon]

This should be interesting. I really enjoyed her movies.

[heatherchandler]

That was very sad.  The daughter looks so much like her.  

[EtheltoTillie]

I want to watch this, but I'm afraid to.  My good friend knew her and her husband and lives in her building, where the murder took place. 

[IntrovertRed]

I vaguely remember hearing about this when it happened because I was a fan of Keri Russell, but didn't learn the real story until watching this the other night.  It was very hard to watch, not in a bad way, just that it was very sad. My daughter is the same age as Sophie and watching her read a letter her mom wrote to her when she was a baby just made me lose it, I haven't gotten so emotional watching a show in quite a while. 

Adrienne seemed like a truly wonderful person, and it's a shame that we didn't get to see her full potential.

Edited to add that I'm glad Andy refused to believe what the police initially told him and didn't give up to get to the truth.

Edited December 5, 2021 by KLJ

[EtheltoTillie]

I finally screwed up the courage to watch this, and I’m glad I did.  Since we live in NYC the story was really big on the news at the time.  This was very well thought out and really focused on her prodigious artistic talent. I had forgotten that Waitress had not even opened yet when she died.  What a loss. The confrontation with the killer was chilling. We learned for the first time that he had been robbing people constantly for a while. 

[Whimsy]

The Waitress  is one of my favorite movies, so I do remember hearing about Adrienne’s murder back in 2006. But, to see that story all these years later and to see her daughter who has grown into a beautiful young lady was both heartbreaking and also beautiful in a way.  It seems so senseless at the time because it was completely random and unrelated to who she was as a person or even a filmmaker. It just seemed so tragic.  This was a beautiful documentary that really just shows the love that everybody had for her and I’m very glad that everyone got to see her talent, her heart, and her potential. 

[Darian]

I remember when Adrienne was murdered. I'd always liked her and felt terrible. When they first said she was murdered, I swear the first story the killer told was that she had come and yelled and him for making noise and basically tried to claim she provoked him (I looked up some old articles he did). I have a terrible memory so I can't remember if they addressed that in the doc. I don't think I knew until I watched this that he'd been robbing apartments. Her daughter knows that her mother's last work was a love story to her. So heartbreaking.    

[Soobs]

I am a huge fan of Adrienne Shelly. I loved Trust and The Unbelievable Truth when I was in my 20's and of course Waitress. It was terrible when she died and I remember the suicide story and then the arrest. The cops did not come across well. It makes you wonder what happens to people whose families don't have the ability to get on the nightly news.

The murderer really struck me as ice cold. I think he was more scared for himself than he was sorry. I wish he'd have to answer more for staging the suicide. That detail suggests something even more disturbing and disrupts the narrative he tells that he just freaked out. Also, her autopsy said she had bruises on her face, like he punched her but he said he strangled her from behind, in a panic. I also think he had been violent before. A person doesn't go from zero to killing someone with their bare hands and staging a suicide. I think he's still full of shit and I can't believe he'll be walking around in another 12 years. I don't think the pictures moved him at all. She wasn't a real person to him then or now.

She would have gone on to do more amazing, important work but of course no one was more robbed than her daughter who never got to know her at all. It was very hard to watch the her scenes. My heart really aches for her especially when she said that she can't think of her mom without thinking of the murderer. I can't imagine having to live like that. I hope she gets some help processing this.

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by Soobs