I Can Make You Love Me

Plot synopsis:
At 22, Laura Black seems to have it made. After graduating UC-Davis in engineering, she leaves her parents' home in Virginia to head for KEI Systems, a Silicon Valley hi-tech firm specializing in defense contracting for the armed services. On the first day at her new job, her supervisor, Chris, introduces her to Richard Farley, a software engineer employed in a division outside Laura's. After lunch that day, Richard invites Laura to a tractor pull, which she turns down. Farley appears to think nothing of it at first, but the worst is yet to come.Laura soon finds a roommate & starts settling in at KEI, during which Farley continues to offer his attentions with nothing more harmful than baked blueberry bread, sitting in Laura's office awaiting her arrival at 7 a.m. But when Laura gets involved with the company's aerobics classes, Farley can soon be seen stealthily watching from outside. While at a company softball game, Farley approaches Laura & asks to go out later to 'discuss the terms of our relationship'. Laura angrily chews him out and insists there is no 'relationship', other than a professional one. Her best friend, Glenda Moritz, tells Laura if Farley is becoming a problem she should address it with management, after which she cracks a joke and the two of them start laughing. Farley takes personal offense but keeps his distance.That week, Farley angrily approaches Laura at work with a gift. She angrily refuses, but Farley refuses to leave until it's opened. When Laura opens it, she discovers a toy bulldozer, after which Farley sneers, 'if you act like a child, I'll have to treat you like one', and accuses Laura of making 'childish, silly faces' at him during the game. Using a ruse, Farley tricks an HR employee into unwittingly giving him Laura's address. The notes then begin to arrive, either at work or Laura's home. When her roommate urges Laura to act on Farley's implied threats & menacing, Laura brushes it off - until a few days later when the two of them come out to go to work & discover the tires on Laura's VW Cabriolet slashed. Reporting to work late, Laura is immediately confronted by Farley, who menaces her with a veiled threat - 'Either you must live in a bad neighborhood or someone's trying to make you pay attention.' He then goes on to offer to help Laura pick out new tires - even to pay for them. She ignores him & walks into work, after warning him that police had advised her to get a restraint order. Farley then threatens her again. Even when not threatening her, his presence is menacing, such as when he snaps photographs of her in her driveway.After this, Laura goes to her HR department to complain about Farley's unending harassment, but is met with stonewalling. It is apparent the company values Farley's security clearance over Laura's right to be free from harassment, but Penny, the HR manager, agrees to talk to Farley and order him to stay away from Laura. Farley takes the advice to heart, but only at work - he soon enrolls in the aerobics classes Laura attends, and then follows her home afterwards. He also corners her at a gas station, forcing her to flee in a panic. Even when Richard's landlady, Nancy - who he also works with - tells him Laura isn't interested in him, Farley continues to find ways to get to her. Exasperated, Laura tells her roommate she is moving out, but her roommate insists on going with her. The two of them find a new apartment that is in a gated community and apparently much more private.Frustrated by Laura's efforts to stop or avoid him, Farley stealthily breaks into Laura's office at work after hours and obtains access to her security clearance application. By doing so, he obtains the addresses and names of her parents in Virginia, and her two sisters - one in Oregon & one in South California - in addition to Laura's new home address. The fiendish Farley then confronts Laura at work the next day, but when she threatens to call the police, he reveals how much he knows about her family, even events in her life that happened a decade before. He then threatens to go after one of Laura's sisters - or even her mother - if Laura tries to run. Angry & frightened, Laura asks Farley what his intentions are - and why. His response is, 'All I know is, you and I were meant to be together - FOREVER'.By this point, Laura has simply had enough. At her parents' home for Christmas in Virginia, a package arrives for her from California. Knowing she doesn't have anyone else there, Laura opens it - and to her horror, inside is an album titled 'Our summer vacation', with a doctored photograph of Farley and Laura's face superimposed on someone else. Laura breaks down in tears, and tells her family the story of the last six months of harassment she has endured at Farley's hands. Her father angrily volunteers to fly out and make the HR people listen, but Laura talks him out of it & vows to address it herself.Following the holidays, Laura goes back to HR and angrily confronts the manager, but the response is the same - they are more worried about jeopardizing his security clearance. Penny does, however, agree to restrict his access to keep him away from her. Farley is also ordered to attend counseling under threat of termination.Not long after, Laura goes out to a bar with some of her girlfriends, where she meets Sam Waters - an engineer who works for another company. He asks her out, and she agrees. After being questioned by her girlfriends about the handsome young engineer, Laura heads for the bathroom, where she is immediately accosted by the now-menacing Farley. He angrily berates her for getting him in trouble with HR, and then shows his violent side while continuing to threaten her if she does not give in to his demands. He leaves with a chilling message - 'This could escalate, Laura. I might scare us both with what I'm capable of doing.'Immediately after, Farley is hauled into a meeting with Penny and a management official, who find that Farley simply refuses to accept that his harassment is illegal and could lead to firing. Emphasizing they want him to stay, Penny tells him in no uncertain terms that his behavior must cease. Farley then levels a veiled threat at Penny, saying that he has guns, would commit suicide, and that 'others would go'. When Penny asks if he is threatening to kill her, he replies simply, 'Yes - not just you. I'd take others as well', before getting up & walking out. Penny is clearly frightened by this threat, but she wastes no time in terminating him with management's approval.Next day, Chris looks up & sees Farley coming down the hall. He motions to Laura, who glances up to see her nemesis being escorted off the property by security with the contents of his desk in a box. As he passes, Penny comes in, and tells them that Farley has been terminated by KEI, effective immediately. She suggests Laura get out of town for a few days, which Laura does.Unfortunately, the harassment did not end with Farley's termination. He soon finds a similar position with another company, and is quickly up to his old tricks of sending menacing letters and again showing up at KEI. When Laura protests, she finds out the company refused to terminate Farley for harassment but rather for performance issues. Laura is furious - again the company has put Farley's interest ahead of hers.Even when Laura is out on a date with Sam, Farley shows up at their restaurant but does not approach them. Sam angrily gets up to confront Farley, but Laura talks him out of it. He warns Laura that she HAS to take Farley's menacing conduct more seriously, and teaches her how to use his 9-mm semiautomatic in self-defense. Laura is apprehensive, but Sam insists - with a promise he will pick it up the following day if it really bothers her. Laura agrees, kisses him goodnight, and goes to get ready for bed. Hearing a noise in the garage, Laura finds Farley in it, leaving a note on her car. She has the gun at the ready behind her back if he approaches, but he leaves without approaching her.
Laura soon comes up for promotion at work, but her security clearance has not come through. Chris tells her Farley is probably the reason behind it, and encourages her to get a restraining order - which she reluctantly agrees to do. Farley is served with a temporary restraining order at his workplace, and Laura soon finds out that she will have a court date later in the week to make the restraining order permanent.Farley proceeds to a gun shop & purchases a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun and over 2,000 rounds of ammunition. He also buys a huge motorhome and starts making his way to Laura's workplace, planning to wait for her to get off work. Unaware Farley is on his way, Laura phones her dad, and tells him about the pending court date the following day. Once Farley arrives, he arms himself with a Benelli shotgun, a .22 Magnum pistol, a semiautomatic 9-mm handgun, a Ruger M-77 rifle, and his new 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun. Stepping out of the motorhome, he calmly walks up to the front entrance of the KEI building. As he approaches, he meets Lawrence Kane, another man with whom he had previously worked. Kane whispers under his breath, 'You can't be serious', when he sees Farley, but Farley simply says, 'Cowboys and Indians!', then blasts Kane at point-blank range with the shotgun, sending him backwards onto a parked car and killing him. As another car approaches Farley, he blasts the car with the shotgun, missing the driver, who quickly retreats. Then Farley fires the shotgun into the plate-glass front doors and marches into the building, shooting at any moving target. As he makes his way up the stairs, he encounters a man coming down, and quickly guns him down with the Mossberg shotgun. Software engineer Helen Lamparter, a friend of Laura's, hears the shooting and runs to the man's side. Farley, halfway up the stairs, turns the shotgun on her and kills her instantly. Making his way to the 2nd floor, Farley kills newlywed 23-year-old Wayne 'Buddy' Williams with the shotgun and continues making his way across the floor. Hearing the shots, Laura's best friend Glenda Moritz comes out of her office - right into Farley's path! Glenda pleads for her life, but the psychopathic Farley levels the Mossberg at her and fires a single round, sending her crashing through the door and backwards into her office, fatally wounded. He then heads for Laura's office, where he ambushes her and seriously wounds her with a shotgun blast to the shoulder. Laura drops to the floor, appearing dead, so Farley leaves her office after he hears voices in the hallway behind him. As employees flee the building, the first police car arrives and officers quickly conceal themselves outside the main doors. Upstairs, Farley attacks 2 men who are making a run for it. Killing the first one with a shot to the back, he wounds the second in the stomach, but the man attempts to escape again. Cornering the man, Farley fatally wounds him with a second shotgun blast to the stomach.By now, the officer in command, Captain Olson, has arrived, and is assuming the worst. But even as employees are evacuated from the building, Olson's second-in-command spots Laura's old supervisor, Chris, running into the building. Officers are unable to stop him as he runs inside & up the stairs.Laura, meanwhile, has desperately tried to dial 911, but finding the line busy, improvises a bandage from a sweater to staunch the bleeding from the gaping shotgun wound in her upper arm. Fleeing her office, she comes across the body of one of the men shot in the back while escaping, and can hear Farley blasting away at the computers & hardware with his shotgun and .22 Magnum pistol. Farley returns to Laura's office, but finding her gone, starts hunting the second floor for her.Outside, the SWAT team has arrived, led by Lt. Bannister. They are quickly filled in by Captain Olson and a command post is set up in an adjacent building. The SWATs are informed of Farley's military history and prepare for what they are likely dealing with. Olson also is informed that Laura - Farley's motive for the shootings - is still trapped in the building. Lt. Ruben Grijalva, a hostage negotiator, also arrives and is filled in by Captain Olson. It isn't long before Farley contacts Grijalva and contemptuously sneers that he plans to 'gloat for a while' and 'would rather kill people than animals - it's not sporting to kill animals'.Laura continues to try to find a way out - and as she does, she passes by Glenda's office. She looks in to discover a horrific scene; her best friend Glenda is fatally wounded by Farley's shotgun blast, and Laura makes her way to the 2nd floor reception area, hiding to conceal herself from Farley as she can still hear the shotgun & pistol. She soon gets into the HR office where 2 women, holed up inside, try to stop the bleeding from Laura's shoulder. After several minutes, though, Laura flees the office, determined not to die, and hides under a desk in a room adjacent to where Farley is talking to police.Lt. Bannister argues for a 3-pronged attack, but Capt. Olson vetoes it as he fears the risk is too great. Laura, calling what she thinks is security's number, reaches Lt. Grijalva and advises him of her injuries. The lieutenant advises her to keep talking in the hope she will not pass out from blood loss, but eventually she does.Regaining consciousness, Laura calls Lt. Grijalva back. He informs her there is no way to send in rescuers to help her; she will have to sit tight. Hearing Farley blasting through the door, Laura hangs up the phone & hides under the desk just as Farley enters the room. The fiend spots the SWAT team moving up towards his position, and contacts Lt. Grijalva and threatens to start detonating explosives unless the SWATs are called off. Capt. Olson calls them off, and Farley continues to rant to Grijalva about his 'persecution' by KEI and Laura's angry rejection of him, refusing to acknowledge any role his conduct might have had. Hearing him in the same room, Laura uses the opportunity to slip through a destroyed security door and down a back staircase to the main floor, where she emerges from the main entrance into the hands of the SWAT team. Lt. Bannister & 2 SWATs help Laura to an ambulance, and she is raced to the hospital.When Laura arrives, she is immediately sent to surgery to repair her damaged shoulder & stop the bleeding. Farley, meanwhile, continues to negotiate with Lt. Grijalva, initially insisting that 'I'm gonna die here, and I'M going to decide when'. He does, however, ask for a diet cola & sandwich from Togo's, which Lt. Grijalva agrees to in return for Farley throwing some of his weapons out one of the building windows. Lt. Bannister offers to have a SWAT sniper take Farley out, but Grijalva argues to try to get Farley to surrender first. Capt. Olson agrees, on the condition that if Farley is unwilling to surrender - 'Get him in front of a window.' Lt. Grijalva agrees, and gets the sandwich & diet cola that Farley requested.When it arrives, Lt. Grijalva points out to Farley that even once he throws out the weapons, there is still the problem of getting the food to Farley. Farley acknowledges this, and Grijalva suggests that he surrender himself. Farley is initially skeptical, but Lt. Grijalva persuades him that he could teach computers in prison. After a few minutes, Farley agrees and emerges from the buliding, into the hands of the SWATs and Capt. Olson's second-in-command, Lt. Shagan. Shagan promptly cuffs Farley and reads him his rights, and as Farley is walked to a police car Grijalva appears with the food Farley had requested. Putting the food in the front of the car, Grijalva watches as the police car drives slowly away with Farley. The film ends with the final outcome of the real-life case: Richard Farley was found guilty of 7 counts of capital murder, and is awaiting the death sentence in San Quentin prison. Laura Black, after 7 major surgeries, regained some use of her shoulder, and as of filming was still working for the company. Following Laura's case - and other tragic stalking cases - the state of California became the first to pass an anti-stalking law.

Tags: violence, romantic

Review:
This type of film could seem over-the-top, but thanks to a believable performance by Richard Thomas, and a surprisingly decent performance by Brooke Shields, the viewer is interested in the story, and not distracted by personalities.You will see some interesting information regarding stalking, as well.
This film was made in 1993, and I was surprised that the company was not held liable for Laura's problems with this man.As this is based on a true story, we see Richard Thomas gradually unraveling as he stalks Laura (Shields), he seems initially harmless, then obsessed.
top notch for t.v. this was not a bad movie at all and i have to say,having been a fan of Brooke shields for years i think this was her first outing at actually being able to show her acting strength.she has just gotten better and better but i was totally impressed with her performance.the movie itself can slow in parts a little bit the last half hour certainly makes up for it.i did not expect such an entertaining finale from a t.v movie.although Richard Thomas did a great job,this is Brooke's film as her screen time shows and she made the most of it.the only let down with the film are the co-stars .the look of them and their acting abilities are woeful and you wonder how they got their jobs-all except for Laura Blacks flatmate that is,who does a fair job..
The first time I saw this I thought, he can't be that good an actor, he must be a maniac in real life.
Brooke Shields was perhaps at her best in this part, but the whole movie hinges on if you buy into Thomas as the stalker and it does it quite well!.
This movie was very creepy to me because this kind of thing happens every day.What I can never understand, though, is why people don't notify law enforcement when things start to get out of hand (one has to be careful with employers, as they're quite often "good-old-boy networks" only concerned about protecting their own, as well as covering their own behinds).
However, this film was made in 1993, before workplace and school shootings became fairly commonplace.....That withstanding, I've never been a victim of stalking, but you can bet that I would also never let things get as far as they tend to do with many people (maybe it's the way I was raised, or because I have a pretty good self-esteem, who knows).Nevertheless, I find these types of films much more captivating and closer to home than the usual stuff out there.It's too bad that there are such people in this world........
STALKING LAURA, a true story about one man's increasing obsession with a work colleague which leads to eventual tragedy, is an astonishingly good film and quite possibly one of my favourite made-for-TV movies of all time.
On the face of it, it looks like every other TV-movie ever made: matter of fact, routine, bogged down with the 'true story' hook.
Indeed, for the first half of the production, all is familiar and safe, rather than gripping.The film is anchored by Richard Thomas delivering a completely surprising turn as the villain of the piece.
Thomas underplays it, selling us his nice-guy John Boy Walton character with a few hidden undertones; a little too insistent here, a gaze lingering too long here.
Brooke Shields was good and too gorgeous for words.Just a word re: a previous reviewer saying she should have just gone out with him once and that she was a snob..
This was the first movie I watched with Richard Thomas in as a mature man.
The scene where Farley looks up at her with that longing and surety in his incredible eyes and says, you and I were meant for each other, Laura, all I know is we were meant to be together-forever is what did it for me.
Richard Thomas gives a terrific performance in the kind of movie we've seen millions of times, even as true stories.
Up until a few months ago I had never seen I Can Make You Love Me or read the story about Laura Black and after watching the film I was left feeling sickened and horrified.
This movie tells the story of how a man's four year obsession and stalking of a female employee ended in a tragic conclusion.I had seen Richard Thomas in Death In Small Doses and he's a brilliant actor with great talent his portrayal of real life killer Richard Farley sent chills down my spine as he played a man with a sick obsession.
Brooke Shields delivered an incredible performance as Laura as the film progressed it amazed me how she had the courage and bravery to escape the rampage alive and how she reacted when her boss told her about the real reason why Farley got fired .At 23 years old Laura Black (Shields) is about to leave her parents home in Virginia after accepting a job at K.E.I. in Sillicon Valley California, on her first day she's introduced to long time employee Richard Farley (Thomas) whose immediately attracted to her beauty after lunch he invites her out she politely turns him down.Over the next few days he is shown waiting for her in her office with fresh baked bread to show how he feels and then watches outside her aerobics class as she removes her sweater to reveal her outfit.What happens next is a four year nightmare for Laura as Farley continues to follow her repeatedly even going so far as to slash the tires on her car, trick other employees into giving him her address, enrolling in her exercise class,breaking into the office to get more info on her, breaking into the garage at her apartment building.
There was a scene when she goes home to visit her family for Christmas and receives a gift entitled our summer vacation which causes her to break down crying.What made the situation even more difficult was his threats to go after members of her family if she tried to leave or learn that she was meant for him.She made many complaints to her boss about what she endured because of him only to be told that they didn't want to jeopardize his security clearance over her right to be safe.It made me feel angry the company should have done more to help keep her protected from harassment.The final straw comes after she files a restraining order and it pushes him to the edge and the result is a shooting rampage which claims the lives of several employees and injured others including Laura.After the film California became the first place to enact an anti stalking law and other cities have followed since.
Still the story was carrying itself on the shoulders of Richard Thomas.
(I think I remember the credits say "based on a true story", so when I say "wanna-be-authentic" I'm referring to the atmosphere the movie creates, OK?!) The plot devices are naive, the dialogue is kind of odd, the characters are rather one-dimensional and act in an exaggerated way.Richard Thomas however is really convincing as the psycho.
Brooke Shields' performance on the other hand is awful, I almost lack the words.Still, the movie manages to be kind of thrilling.
Based on true story of Laura Black ( Brooke Shields ).
This movie was fun to watch because I get to see Brooke Shields.
I don't think Brooke Shields' acting was bad.
This film was done pretty well and the acting by Richard Thomas and Brooke Shields was good as well.
Especially Richard Thomas who can play a good guy and in this case a psychopath very well.
This film based on a true story really brings the reality of stalking to a horrific conclusion.
It brings to light why California like other states finally had to recognize the inherent dangers of ignoring threats by sick people such as Farley.
But when dealing with a person like Farley, they've had that in them for a long time and in Laura Black's case she was the innocent who was targeted by that nut.***SPOILER ALERT*** One scene that cracked me up was when Richard Thomas was in the ladies room at that restaurant and he's talking to Brooke Shields.
This is a truly frightening story of a real stalking case.
In fact, the story this movie revolves around pioneered the anti-stalking law in California and likely inspired other states to do the same.Richard Farley (played by Richard Thomas, in a role at the other end of the spectrum from his role in The Waltons) is an office nerd-of-sorts who thinks he has a shot with Laura Black (Brooke Shields), a new co-worker at a Northern California high-tech firm.
(This event actually happened).*SPOILER FOLLOWING*Farley continues his pursuit until, after threatening the HR people at his company (another real event), he is fired and banned from the property.
In a sequence that shatters actor Thomas' wholesome image, he goes 'postal' and ruthlessly guns down several people, including Laura, who managed to escape.
This segment seems to follow the real story almost right down to the last detail, including those surrounding Farley's surrender.I have heard of the story surrounding Laura Black, and this movie fit most of the particulars almost to a T.
The depth of the writers' attention to the details of the Laura Black stalking made this movie that much more frightening.
After finding it on Amazon under the title 'Stalking Laura', I read about the true story surrounding the events of this movie.
His performance as Farley shatters the wholesome image most people remember him for, as 'John-Boy' in 'The Waltons'.
Brooke Shields is somewhat effective as his victim Laura Black; she is not a weak-kneed, helpless victim.
For those not familiar with the story, here's a little about it.Richard Farley is a software engineer for KEI, a Silicon Valley technical defense contractor.
Laura Black is a new graduate from UC Davis who is starting work there.
Most of the scenes in the movie are ones that actually occurred, including Farley's threats to the HR people and the horrifying mass-murder at his old firm.
Having said that, anyone giving this movie an over critical review really needs to take a look within themselves.While Brooke Shields and Richard Thomas are the stars of this tele-film, the support of the ensemble cast that gives it an even stronger foundation.
While liberties were taken with more minor things in comparison to the main thrust of the saga, a number of them were psychologically geared to cover ground on the way far too many viewers took the ridiculously naive positions that either Laura Black led Richard Farley on or that she was "misunderstanding the situation.Even dismissing those things, as well as the comparison of "John Boy" in the role of a disturbed man who was in real life "built like a bear", the heart of the movie is about how a delusional personality can go that intensely spiraling out of control.
A man who went from being self-disciplined enough to spend an entire decade in the military to the first ever stalking-connected workplace massacre all because he believed people "thought he was weak" or "a joke" doesn't make anyone feel sorry for Richard Wade Farley, and it shouldn't because it can't.
That he "never had a criminal record" nor "committed a single act of violence before" (that is according to his defense at the time...)casts him in an even more despicable light as it spotlights more what he always was: an abusive bully who mastered the mask he wore all of those years looking for the right target.Laura was portrayed as having said "What did I do?" when she was loaded in the ambulance.
The film, and how it ends, gives that answer: Laura Black didn't do anything, except be the perfect target for a disturbed sociopath who, even if she HAD agreed to the "one date", would NEVER have let her go.
"Stalking Laura" AKA: "I Can make you love me" was a excellent movie.I have watched this movie over 100 times.
This movie also makes you think about people.
Richard Farely was a normal guy, until he met Laura Black and became obsessed and keeping tabs on her.
But Richard Thomas played it well.
Brooke Shields played her character really well too.
She even looked like the real Laura Black.All I'm saying is, this movie will get you hooked.
When Laura makes it clear that they're going to remain just friends, Rich quickly changes for the creepy, and next thing you know he's shooting up the corporate office buildings and murdering Laura's colleagues one by one!
Stalking Laura had a few sad moments, such as the poor guy who gets shot and hides in the bathroom, only to start bleeding to death and get shot to death when Rich discovers his hiding place.
She was the victim.Laura has just graduated and is leaving her tacky little Virginia town to work as an engineer in Silicon Valley, a high-tech looking city with an introduction soundtrack that along with the powerful buildings really reminds me of that stupid animated kid's film, the Brave Little Toaster, for some reason.
And when Laura arrives, she meets a friendly group of technicians, along with a kind of nerdy guy named Richard (Rich) Farley.
And at first he seems like he could be a really good friend, but it begins to get creepy when he hangs around Laura's gym class watching her do aerobics, and when he shows up in her office very early in the morning offering her blueberry bread.
Soon she moves to a high-tech security home with her landlord friend, but Rich shows up in her garage, and threatens to murder her bosses, until they finally fire him.That's when he snaps.He buys a trailer and a bunch of guns, watches several influential crime-type drama movies, then shows up in the morning shooting up the whole corporation, killing or injuring many of Laura's friends.
"Stalking Laura" is the feel good romantic comedy of the year that's finally available on DVD.
Richard Thomas stars as our shy, misunderstood hero Richard Farley who's determined to win the heart of a cold, career minded co-worker (Laura Black) portrayed with bitchy hilariousness by Brooke Shields.
Determined to win her love despite the objections of an overzealous and litigious HR representative, clueless bosses and Laura's wacky best friend, who all try their best to prevent the unlikely interoffice romance, a cute office game of "Cowboys and Indians" shows just how far Richard will go to win Laura's cold heart.I can't think of a better way to spend a chilly Tuesday night, than to curl up on my sofa with a Togo's #23 sandwich (it's the best) and a quart sized diet cola (extra ice, I like to chew on the ice) and my copy of "Stalking Laura".
If I could give this movie and 11 I would, but take my word for it, I CAN make you love Stalking Laura..
Based on a real-life case from the 1980s, this is a pretty well-made TV movie about a disturbed guy stalking a female co-employee, leading up to a murder spree.
The first half of the movie chronicles the stalking and the second half the violent hold-up at the work place.
Brooke Shields plays the victim and proves that she can act provided with a decent script and/or solid direction.
Unfortunately, the currently available DVD from a Canadian label called New Star Video under the title Stalking Laura has got horrible image and sound quality despite the box claiming "Digitally Remastered - Enhanced Audio": It actually looks and sounds like a rip from a 2nd gen.
Originally aired on CBS network under the full title I Can Make You Love Me: The Stalking of Laura Black as a Tuesday movie..
On February 16, 1988 Richard Wade Farley shot dead seven people at the headquarters of the computer company where he had previously worked in Sunnyvale, California and injured four others.
He was subsequently convicted of seven counts of first degree murder and sentenced to death, although the sentence has not yet been carried out and he is currently sitting on death row at San Quentin prison.The cause of Farley's murderous rampage was his obsession with a young co-worker named Laura Black.
Farley had persistently pressed Black to go on a date with him, and when she refused began stalking her, sending her unwanted letters and gifts.
Eventually he was dismissed from the company, but this did not diminish his obsession with Black, whom he continued to stalk for four years between 1984 and 1988, even though she changed address several times during that period.
The real Richard Farley appears to have been an unattractive, unprepossessing figure, considerably older than Laura Black, so it was surprising to see him portrayed by the good-looking Richard Thomas.
For anyone of my generation Thomas will always be John-Boy from that impossibly wholesome TV series "The Waltons", so I found it difficult to believe in him as a homicidal maniac.Brooke Shields rose to prominence in the late seventies after the scandal surrounding her film "Pretty Baby".
Moreover, it also concentrates on the years during which Farley was stalking Black more than on the killings; apart from Black herself, those individuals who were actually killed or injured remain for the most part faceless and nameless.
Something like this might have worked in a made-for-cinema feature film, but the producers of this movie went for the safe option, evidently calculating that a TV audience would prefer to watch something where the primary character is an obviously sweet and wholesome girl-next-door type who finds herself in danger though no fault of her own.
****Spoilers***As far as bad movies go, I loved this one.
Yeah, it's a sad, sad, sad, horrible situation in real life, but seeing this guy blow away all the characters you just got to know, is pretty amusing.