The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story

Plot synopsis:
The film is told through the perspectives of Scott and Laci Peterson's friends, who trusted and supported Scott until they could not believe him anymore.
Laci Peterson was a pregnant mother-to-be. On Christmas Eve, 2002, she disappeared. Her husband Scott Peterson (Dean Cain), and her family go out to search for Laci, but there are no signs of her anywhere. Months go by, but the media and the public begin to suspect that Scott murdered his wife. The Rocha family support and defend Scott, until Scott's mistress Amber Frey (Tracy Middendorf) comes forward at a press conference and admits to an affair with Scott. The Rochas start to doubt Scott's innocence, especially Laci's mother, Sharon (Dee Wallace), who had always believed Scott to be the perfect husband. Finally, the Rocha family publicly announce that they are against Scott.
In April, 2003, the body of Laci and Scott's unborn son washed up on shore: the remains of a torso later identified as Laci washed up a few miles away from the baby's remains, and the two were officially declared murdered. Scott was arrested.

Tags: murder

Review:
Living in a country where media coverage of the Laci Peterson story was minimal, this TV-film did a great job of depicting the tragic events.
The pace was good and the story telling was thoughtful without getting complicated.
Dean Cain was fantastic (as always) in his role as Scott Peterson, and Tracy Middendorf was great as his innocent girlfriend, Amber.
The only problem I see with the film is that perhaps it should have been made after the final outcome in the real Laci Peterson story, then there would have been more of an ending..
The Perfect Husband The Laci Peterson Story.
I thought the movie was good, and Dean Cain kinda looked like Peterson.
Good acting and i give this movie a B+.This trial went on and on as we know, but I think the whole world fell in love with Laci.
Dean Cain's FILM!.
Dean Cain(Scott Peterson),"Dragon Fighter",'03, gave a great performance with the actual facts of the story as we presently have seen them over and over again.
Dean Cain copied all the characteristics of Scott Peterson, which was a very difficult task to perform under all the circumstances concerning this case.
I wonder if Scott will ever get a fair trial after the showing of this picture.
SAD FILM BUT DEAN CAIN WAS GREAT AS SCOTT!.
I live in the UK and had not heard much about Scott Peterson or what he was being accused of.
My main reason for commenting on the film is the fact that seeing as this film is based on a sad true story (or should I say speculated from the writers and medias point of view)that Dean Cain played his part of Scott extremely well.
It would of been a much better film had the trial been over so the ending would of been more understanding.
I am writing this dated July 17th 2004 and I'm still not sure if Scott Peterson has had his trial.
And the fact that the police didn't seem interested in the old lady who was pretty sure she seen Laci in the town with the dog, it's as if they wanted him to be guilty and didn't care if he wasn't.
Also anyone who is being hounded by the press is going to try and disguise themselves (I know I would), I also heard that just because they found Laci's hair on her boat (yes I said her boat) there using this as evidence as well, but if it's her boat there's bound to be her hair on it.
It is a very good story in it's self and one which could've had a better ending but I for one did enjoy it but it wasn't what I expected to see.
I actually thought the film was going to show Laci and Scott together to see just how well they did get on.
I just wanted to comment on Dean Cain's superior acting skills.
Dean Cain and G.W. Bailey did a great job.
Dean Cain's portrayal was very good.
good movie but no end.
Especially, I liked the acting of Dean Cain.
I didn't like about this movie that it comes with an open end and you are made to think how the story ends.
I think, the true murderer was his friend Tom. I had the feeling he knows something he hadn't told us.
He believed so sternly in his friend Scott until the end.
Too bad, that Scott never got the chance to confess to his girlfriend who the true murderer was...Summary: If you want to see good acting watch the movie.
I have the Dean Cain film on this story as well as Amberty Frey: Witness for the prosecution's of Scott Peterson as well as the amber Frey book.
Both the film and book by Amber Frey explain the missing pieces from the dean Cain version off.
The Amber Frey has her version of accounts and it follows the trial right to the end.
I would recommend that you watch the amber Frey film as it would give you a better understanding of what happened.Scott Peterson started an affair with Amber Frey but he started to lie to her.
Amber then find out about Scott and lacy.
Amber's story is all about how she tried to help find lacy.
As well as telling her versions of events that happened from the time she met Scott till his trial of which came back the verdict of Scott getting sentenced to death .
The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story is a TV-movie starring Dean Cain as Scott Peterson, the man accused of killing his 8-month-pregnant wife Laci (Meredith Lieber) and who'd had an affair with Amber Frey (Tracy Middendorf) in 2002.The movie was filmed before the murder case against Scott had even began, so of course the movie has to be rather ambivalent in its treatment of him.
Without a settled case, the movie really beats around the bush as to whether or not Scott did the murder or if he was just a man with a bad secret who was wrongfully accused.For his part, Dean Cain plays the role well with hints of guilt, but the part was scripted as such it seems and he is not an endearing character.
Laci is non-existent as a character in the movie, mostly just referred to in the past tense.
But there are a lot of useless actors with bit roles (investigators, for instance) in the script to keep it true to the real-life people instead of amalgamated into a few more meaningful, dramatized characters.Overall, a lackluster effort and a movie made too soon with no real connection to the murdered individual.
(Well I haven't seen the movie but just the fact that there is one made)...can't Hollywood leave anything alone anymore?
Why is it that every real-life tragedy has to be turned into some MADE FOR T.V. MOVIE?
I guess producers can't come up with anything else more original and as if they don't have enough money already they need to bring in old soap actors (Sarah Brown as Laci Peterson???)into this just so their careers don't fade away completely!Seriously Hollywood, stop feeding off of the families' pain and come up with your OWN stories instead of trying to re-enact real life tragedies and leave well enough alone!.
Interesting As A True Life Story.
Though it's an interesting true life story, the production and release of the film in 2004 is unfortunate because at that time the outcome of the case was not known; no person had been convicted and therefore the case technically was still unsolved.
Accordingly, the timing of the release conveys the impression of tabloid journalism on the part of the film's producers, Sony Pictures, in an apparent attempt to capitalize on a personal tragedy.That said, "The Perfect Husband" is not a bad film.
Further, there's one mysterious telephone call to Scott that is never explained.Production values are about what you would expect for a TV movie.
I did not notice any problems with editing, though breaks for television commercials are obvious and slightly irritating.Overall, what makes the film worth watching is that it is based on a true story.
But I wish the film could have been delayed until the case had been resolved, to give viewers a better perspective on the characters, especially Scott Peterson, and on overall case details such as motive and underlying mental state of the killer..
Was it even appropriate to make this movie before the case goes to trial!?
To get around that dilemma the producers use the purposely gullible character of Tommy Vignatti to convey the outside possibility of Scott's innocence right up until the final scene of the movie.All the performances by all the leads in this movie are completely believable and they all do an excellent job of showing how those immediately involved went from initially supporting Scott Peterson to one by one viewing him with distrust and disbelief.
I don't know who wrote the film, but I feel like I could have done better myself being I've been following this case/trial since it started.
(I told you I'm anal about those types of things.)It would be nice to see a movie made once the trial is completed and a verdict is reached (even though I'm almost 100% sure who's to blame).
This made for TV movie, had the worst ending I've ever seen.
But this two times, I haven't seen the end of this interesting picture.
I agree that the actuation of Dean Cain is very good.
Then, the actuation of his best friend is excellent too, that guy shows all the time his loyalty to his friend, Dean Cain, above all the suspicious of almost all the friends, relatives and press.
Real life movie or fiction?.
To present a real happening as in a movie is unique and always interesting to watch.
However, smooth as the story line may be, the ending is rather cynical, without the 'real' presentation of the real case, if any otherwise it was only based on presumption.
It is 'presumed' that Dean Cain MURDERED his wife but without court verdict nor findings.
I don't know much about the real life story behind, or if the case has been closed or still an open end case or was it just the conclusion of the police and if so, why then made a movie based on real life story that has not ended with a finding?.
First of all, Dean Cain tries to do a good job playing Scott Peterson and even sounds a little like him.
It's sort of creepy but I kind of get the impression that Dean watched a lot of Scott's interviews and listened to him over and over again, trying to imiate him.
It came out way too soon before too many facts were out and it's also way too favorable to Scott Peterson.
It does try to make the cops involved in the case look bad.
The movie tries to convince us that they are more concerned with framing Scott than actually finding Laci Peterson.
It also makes Laci's family and friends look bad.
They are seen as people who turn on Scott very quickly, because of his selling of Laci's car and his affair with Amber Frey.
The attempt to recreate times that Laci's family and Amber went to the press are also bad and look poorly staged.
Since the conversations between Scott and Amber weren't public at the time, the writers tried to write out dialogue on what they thought Peterson might have said on his cell phone to Amber.
There's also a fictional (guessing) couple who are supposed to be friends of Laci's and Scott's who fight over whether or not Scott did it.
Typical idiot writers portray it as though it's the hysterical women (Laci's two friends) who think Scott is guilty and the cops who are after Scott.
I'm really so sure that the cops and her female friends were really anxious to see Laci's husband on trial for murder instead of the who did this.
I'm sure justice meant nothing to them and they were fine with the idea of the killer of the friend being on the loose as long as Laci's husband (whom they probably had to their houses dozens of times and who they knew thought they knew pretty well) getting sent to jail.
The annoying part in the movie that I'm sure never happened in real life was everybody going around hollering "How'that going to look when you do that?" "It's going to look bad if you do this, Scott".
Everybody was probably too upset about Laci to worrying about how things were looking, unless of course you've got something to hide.
Why would friends advise Scott on how to behave unless they suspected he was guilty and want to help him look innocent?
The press conferences were about trying to get people to give tips about finding Laci, not about looking a villain, lol.
Basically, this movie might have been interesting before all the facts and everything was out but now, it just makes you roll your eyes at it..
A waste of a story that could have been told without so much sadness!.
Bad acting, routine script, cheap production, no good dirty rotten movie in general.
It could have been told telling the good things that happened in Laci Peterson's life, not one sad incident that happened in her lifetime.
Also, I totally think that there could have been a lot better actors play these characters.
Good I hate that monster Scott Peterson.
The Scott Peterson Story.
The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story is a TV movie based on the life of Laci Peterson.It stars Dean Cain, Sarah Brown, Tracy Middendorf, Tom O'Brien and Dee Wallace-Stone.It was directed by Roger Young.It is a crime story that captivated and shocked a nation about the California man whose pregnant wife Laci was reported missing on Christmas Eve in 2002 which has triggered a search party that soon realizes its mission is moot when the police make public their suspicions of foul play.
Scott was arrested.The performances were decent except for Dean Cain,who was very good in his role of Scott Peterson, portraying his selfishness, his neurotic sense of self-control and his sociopath tendencies as well as his complete disregard for his wife Laci.Character development could have been stronger if the character of Laci could have been developed to a greater degree giving the viewers more of a feel for the full tragedy of her death.
They were too toned down for TV viewers.Overall,it could have been a better TV movie if these weren't really considered and if the filmmakers focused on telling a story behind a tragedy..
Dean Cain fan.
I thought this was a very good movie, though sad.
I watched it cause I'm a huge Dean Cain fan.
When ever I hear updates of the case on TV I think of Scott as being Dean and it makes me sad.
I wish in future roles Dean would always be the good guy like he was as Superman.
I think the movie was very good.
The movie was very good about going along with the real facts of the case.
Hard to Understand the real story or how could this have happened!.
The 8 is for the quality of the acting and portrayal of the story available before the trial.
Scott and Lacey had come up to where she lived at the time, in Mountain View.
She shared a condo at the home of a long time friend of Scott, from high school.
The friend told my daughter about the couple and how close they were.
(he didn't want to be seen on TV--girlfriend!!) When her body was recovered from the San Francisco Bay, along with the baby's body, Scott's fishing story started to link up with how Lacy ended up where she did.
In the story, Scott is portrayed to appear innocent, by his demeanor, but as my daughter suggested, he was that way.
And I almost neglected to mention, before Scott was arrested, sometime in January, he went up to his friend's condo, in MV, where my daughter still lived.
I remember my daughter calling me and telling me Scott Petersen was there that night, sleeping under the same roof.
Sorry this movie was made too soon and prior to any trial.
And strangely at the end of the movie it states: "The views of the convicted killer presented in this program are his own and not those of the producers or A+E Networks." Now THAT is really weird.
I had no idea it was based on a real story, but now that I know it I see it even worst.
For example: "When Scott leaves his house once her son and wife bodies are found by the sea shore he take his car to visit Amber Frey.
Dean Cain was not the best acting, his silly senseless smiles where completely out of tone, no dramatical differences between strongly touching parts and the normal movie rhythm.
Scott's best friend acts even badly, his face seems more than a mask put on him from the very beginning of the movie till the very end, his wife is just a sea of tears....
The original story it's a real tragedy, but once more Hollywood's directors and writers prove they care nothing at all people tragedies.
Why putting some more sorrow on Laci Peterson's family, why abuse of people's sad stories just for money??
i think this is so sad about LACY it is again on LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK,after not watching this for years.great movie!no complaint at all....................
i love Sexy dean Cain.he still is a cutie since playing Superman TV series love his acting.he look so much like a "better looking'Scott Peterson"i do see the strong resemblance,as the movie was a real good one,told by the friend perspective on it i think two of lacy and Scott friends or told by the two friends of lacy RIP.
They should'vie in a way yes wait until the trial conclude,however i am sure they just wanted 1 movie told from the friend P.O.V.(point of view)in the inception of her missing,so i am fine with that.
love the movie overall and what a great actress dean and Sarah j.brown(Carly corinthos)ex actress on general hospital.she was awesome!
very convincingly as KATE.The man who played the brother was OK as well as who play tommy was a good actor portraying the friend to Scott.and Dean just is always a great actor,with whatever part he is portraying.so obvious crazy loser Scott killed his poor son and wife lacy.Guy was not even crying upset really over Connor and her missing so flagrant.i give it 10 stars if i can,due to the nature of the true to life story.
and two of my fave actors in it mention above rocked EACH scene.so sad but a good movie.