No One Would Tell (1996 film)
No One Would Tell | |
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![]() DVD cover | |
Written by | Steven Loring |
Directed by | Noel Nosseck |
Starring | Candace Cameron Fred Savage Michelle Phillips |
Theme music composer | Michael Tavera |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Artie Mandelberg Randy Sutter |
Cinematography | Paul Maibaum |
Editor | Michael Brown |
Running time | 96 minutes |
Production companies | Frank & Bob Films II Hallmark Entertainment von Zerneck-Sertner Films |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | May 6, 1996 |
No One Would Tell is a 1996 American teen crime drama television film directed by Noel Nosseck from an original script by Steven Loring. It is based on the true story of Jamie Fuller, a 16-year-old high school student who murdered his 14-year-old girlfriend, Amy Carnevale, on August 23, 1991, in Beverly, Massachusetts.[1] A remake of No One Would Tell debuted on Lifetime on September 16, 2018.
Plot
This story takes place in North High School, where Stacy Collins is a shy 16-year-old high school student who has secretly been in love with Bobby Tennison for two years. She is surprised when he starts to show a romantic interest in her, considering he is a senior wrestler, and the most popular guy in school. They soon start dating, and find out that both of their fathers had abandoned them. She is upset that her mother, Laura, is dating a man named Rod who treats her very badly, and Stacy often urges her to leave him and treat herself better.
After a few weeks of dating, Bobby starts showing possessive behavior. He is jealous whenever another guy approaches or talks about Stacy, and doesn't want her to hang out with anyone when they are together. At first, she doesn't suspect that there is anything wrong, because he immediately apologizes after getting mad at her and tells her that he loves her and gives her gifts to show his remorse.
Stacy soon promises to him that they will be together forever. She also agrees not to hang out with other people anymore even if he is not around. At school, boys start to notice her after her best friend, Nicki, convinces her to wear a mid-thigh length skirt for Bobby. In the boys' locker room, one of the boys gives her a compliment, which outrages him. After this, he furiously tells her she looks like a slut and demands that she wear proper clothes and forces her to change the skirt in the bathroom and into a pair of his track pants. She tries to explain that she was only dressing up for him, but he becomes more furious before throwing and slamming her into the wall. Back at home, Laura worries that Stacy is spending too much time with him, but she assures her that he loves her and vice versa. Meanwhile, Nicki and her friend, Val Cho, also grow concerned about Stacy’s relationship with him. Nicki soon learns from her cousin, Donna Fowler, that he has a history of being physically abusive and his last girlfriend moved away because of it. Her worry grows when she notices that Stacy has several unexplained bruises on her body. She talks to her about what she heard, but Stacy, frustrated, assures her that she can take care of herself.
By accident, Stacy meets Bobby's mother; He catches them talking to each other and becomes furious and violent. Upset, she refuses to see him again, and later takes it out on Laura, calling her irresponsible. Bobby later wins Stacy’s trust back by telling her about the alcoholism that runs in his family. His father was an abusive alcoholic and she couldn't leave him. His father left on his own. They are happy for a while, but trouble begins again when he sees her talking to another boy at the school dance. He pulls her outside into the parking lot and slaps her, all of which is witnessed by Nicki and her boyfriend, Tony, who are nearby.
Nicki quickly confronts Stacy about how badly Bobby is treating her, but she defends him, saying he's been through a lot. When Nicki flat out says that he doesn't love her, she angrily says, "Then you don't know what love is!" before taking off with him in his car. After Nicki helps her see the truth, she accepts that he isn't treating her right and ends their relationship. When he doesn't take the break-up well, she offers for them to just be friends, but they are soon estranged when he hears that she was talking to another boy at a birthday party and slaps her again despite them no longer dating.
Later that night, Bobby, accompanied by an acquaintance, Vince Fortner, convinces Stacy to get into his car for a ride. He drives to the lake and walks off with her to be alone. The next day, it is reported that she is missing. Most people guess that she hitchhiked and was murdered, but Laura suspects that Bobby has something to do with it especially after she finds Stacy's purse in his room. Nicki is also convinced that he is responsible for her disappearance and asks Carla, a witness on the night that she disappeared, for information. Her reluctance to tell what happened frustrates Nicki. Accompanied by Laura, Nicki goes to the police, informing Laura and Detective Anderson about how abusive Stacy's relationship with Bobby was. Carla eventually talks to them as well, admitting that Bobby and Vince took Stacy to the lake.
Bobby and Vince are arrested and Bobby blames Stacy's disappearance on Vince. When confronted by this lie, Vince admits that Bobby was the one last seen with her, and later reveals that when he came back alone, he said that "if he can't have her, no one's gonna." Vince is free to go, since he told Detective Anderson the truth, that he didn't know if Bobby killed Stacy. Detective Anderson is then convinced Bobby did so when she ended their relationship and refused to get back together. When he confronts him, he realizes he is cornered and shortly admits that he slit her throat when she refused to get back together with him and then disposed of her body in the lake.
Stacy's body is soon found in the lake, wrapped in a trash bag with duct tape, and tied down with cinder blocks. Laura and Nicki grieve together. A court trial soon follows with the district attorney asking everyone if they ever saw Bobby hit Stacy. Carla says she did, but that it was because Stacy wouldn't listen to him. Donna and other classmates also admit that they witnessed the abuse, but figured she would leave him eventually.
Val, Vince, Nicki, and Tony expose the abusive ways that Bobby treated Stacy, with Nicki saying how she desperately wanted to oust him, but was afraid of losing Stacy's friendship if she were to say what he was doing to her. He is eventually found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The judge tells the witnesses to tell someone next time they see a friend being abused instead of standing by and doing nothing, implying how it could have saved Stacy from getting killed.
Later, a distraught Nicki cleans out Stacy's locker and cries as she looks at the pictures of them, remembering their friendship and guiltily wishing that she had acted sooner to have saved her. The film ends with Nicki and Tony leaving a bouquet of roses on the sand at the lake in memory of Stacy.
Cast
- Candace Cameron as Stacy Collins
- Fred Savage as Robert "Bobby" Tennison
- Michelle Phillips as Laura Collins
- Gregory Alan Williams as Detective Anderson
- Heather McComb as Nicole "Nicki"
- Justina Machado as Val Cho
- Eric Balfour as Vince Fortner
- Rodney Eastman as Tony Dinardo
- Tiana Marie Brown as Emily Stone
- Martha Romo as Carla
- Paige Moss as Donna
- Steve Smith as Steve McGuire
- Sally Jessy Raphael as the Judge
Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Candace Cameron and Heather McComb were praised for their acting performances.[2]
Remake
The film was remade by Lifetime Television, with Shannen Doherty as Laura Collins, Matreya Scarrwener as Sarah Collins, and Callan Potter as Rob Tennison, and premiered on September 16, 2018.[1][3]
References
- ^ a b Traciy Curry-Reyes (September 11, 2018). "'No One Would Tell': Lifetime Movie True Story Remake Inspired By Jamie Fuller, Amy Carnevale, Shoe Pond Murder". TV Crime Sky. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
- ^ John P. McCarthy (May 6, 1996). "Nbc Monday Night at the Movies No One Would Tell". Variety. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
Cameron is realistic as the gullible and willful teen. The highest acting marks go to Heather McComb, who's able to take up the emotional slack in the script and performances.
- ^ Shirley Li (September 7, 2018). "Shannen Doherty fights for justice against a domestic abuser in No One Would Tell trailer". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
External links
- 1996 television films
- 1996 films
- 1996 crime drama films
- 1990s teen drama films
- American crime drama films
- American films
- American teen drama films
- Films about domestic violence
- Drama films based on actual events
- Films scored by Michael Tavera
- English-language films
- Films about murderers
- NBC network original films
- Crime films based on actual events