Sex & Lies in Sin City (2008)

Review by Amanda Reyes
Directed by Peter Medak
Written by Teena Booth
Starring Mena Suvari, Matthew Modine, Jonathan Schaech, Marcia Gay Harden
Lifetime Movie Network, 2008

Having been raised in Sin City myself, I have an unhealthy obsession with watching films that take place in my old stomping grounds because from the time I was 7 until I moved away at 25 years of age in 1996, that dang city has changed more often than Liz Taylor changed husbands. I'm also fascinated by the kind of lifestyle that some of the city's more, uh, interesting patrons live. Fittingly, a lot of these citizens are ripe for characterizations in movies. Case in point, Sex & Lies in Sin City is the non-fictional tale about the infamous Ted Binion murder. Unfortunately, it's also full of enough fictional accounting to make you remember why this kind of stuff is supposed to stay in Vegas...

Sandy Murphy (Mena Suvari) was a down on her luck but beautiful young woman who sought out fortune in Vegas, only to go into debt and become a stripper. It was here that she met Ted Binion (Matthew Modine in a great performance), owner of the Horseshoe Casino. Ted was a mess of a man, sometimes abusive with drugs "“ or people - depending on his mood. Sandy moved in with Ted but eventually began an affair with Rick Tabish (Jonathan Schaech) and the two, according to Binion's sister Becky (Marcia Gay Harden), eventually killed Binion by forcing drugs into his system and then saying he overdosed.

Modine and Suvari as Binion and Murphy

Things unraveled quickly for Murphy and Tabish. Tabish was arrested two days after Binion's death for breaking into an underground silver bullion vault, which Binion had built out in the middle of nowhere (I'm not making this up!). The evidence against both Tabish and Murphy for the actual murder wasn't great but Becky hired a private eye who was able to get enough evidence to and convict the deadly duo. This was the first time that the evidence entered into a court case had come from an investigator and not the police themselves.

Rick Tabish (Jonathan Schaech)

The first half of the movie follows everything as factually as I remembered it, from Murphy originally turning down Binion when he tried to stuff $1,000 down her shirt to the pathetic lovesick Irish millionaire who financed her defense. But it's the second half where the film gets lost.

Becky Binion (Marcia Gay Harden)

I'll admit I didn't know that there had been a retrial or that Murphy and Tabish had been acquitted of murder. I was shocked when I got to that part of the film. What was even more outrageous was how everything completely changed gears, making Murphy out to be a total victim of circumstance. It is inferred that she is completely innocent (uh, she did have an affair and try to steal her dead boyfriend's silver, this much is true). I later learned that some of the jurors admitted that they partially based their decision on an episode of CSI which was inspired by this case. They felt the prosecution's evidence wasn't as strong as what had been given on the hit series.

Modine as Binion

This my friends, is why I left Vegas.

Sex & Lies is a fun movie with lots of great performances and is shot in that kind of glitzy manner that Vegas is accustomed to (although there's not much in the way of exteriors, which indicates it was most likely filmed elsewhere). But much like the city itself, it lacks any real depth behind the bright lights. I was surprised to see this film was directed by Peter Medak who has made some incredible true crime films including Let Him Have It and The Krays. But he missed the mark here and I have to fault him (and writer Teena Booth) for wussing out on a darker portrayal of Sandy Murphy. There's a terribly twisted tale to be had about Ted Binion's debaucheries and eventual murder. By the end of Sex and Lies Murphy remains an enigma who, according to this film, did nothing wrong except fall for a lecherous man. Well, in the first half she does steal, cheat and lie. Yeah, she's totally innocent.