User reviews

With poor acting and an extremely confusing script, the most hated woman in the United States tells the story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, president and founder of the American atheist association, focused on her kidnapping in 1995. The ill-executed direction of the film portrays in a poorly planned manner the events preceding and explaining the abduction as well as the period in captivity the atheist activist and his family. When finished watching the film, the spectator can not visualize in detail neither the life of Madalyn nor his kidnapping. Badly made scenes of action, weak dialogues and a dubious photograph characterize this film that, unfortunately, does not live up to the importance of the figure of Madalyn and its history.

Melissa Leo is a great actress. Madalyn Murray O'Hair, as presented here, was not a likable person. Coming from the fifties as she did, the ugliness she was subjected to, just as with the civil rights movement, would tend to make anyone re-act like a snarling badger. She was the point of the spear in the fight against the religious tyranny that is, and has always been, right around the corner. The right to say: "I don't believe it and you can't make me." was fought for and should not be taken for granted. A very American story in every detail. In the beginning, I got the feeling it was going to have a 'Coenesque' flavor to it. If the same thought occurs to you, dismiss it. It's a dramatized bio rearranged to feel like a thriller.

This is a prime example of lazy screen writing. There are several things that the movie got wrong compared to the actual events. Plus, it's like they took the script directly from O'Hairs Wikipedia page or a quick google search. It offers nothing new to the story. Hopefully someone will redo it the right way, because it had so much potential.

The subject matter is interesting - it's about the woman who led the charge to make sure that state and religion were separate. She was an atheist, but in many ways, she was fighting for freedom of religion. However, this movie takes a very comedic tone to it all, and it covers so many landmark events in her life. So in the end, it feels more like a quirky montage of her life than anything that carries real emotional weight.

Of course that's her real name and not the one of the "character" (real life person) she portrays, but it's fitting nevertheless. She won't take anything from anybody, no matter what the point is. And she will stand up for something when others just idly stand by and maybe even just watch what is happening.

We go through a lot of history of what happened to this person and how she became a fighter and an atheist. The last fact alone may make her a bad apple for some and put her in a corner she can't recover from. But you know there is a reason for this title of hers (and the movie). Performance is grand and it's really a gripping story, jumping back and forth in time. It works and while not many will be completely satisfied with the work/movie itself, it's really something good, with flaws and all.

The true story is fascinating. Unfortunately this film doesn't do it justice. However, with great actors and just enough interesting details the film is watchable.

Unfortunately, the film collapses under the weight of its own subject, which is a shame because it wastes a great performance from Melissa Leo and also the story is fascinating.

My god whoever did the wardrobe and makeup should be fired. Poor Melissa Leo is not fooling anyone with her wigs and fake belly.

The director, who was also the co-writer, seems overwhelmed with so much information (the film is only an hour and a half and it could've been more). All the actors, beside Leo, are terrible and wasted.

I would love to see this subject in the hands of a capable director. It could've been so much meatier.

The directors seemed to enjoy making this movie, for sensational reality that was this woman's life, and sad death; and was probably highly profitable in certain markets. But as a stranger to the story, I could tell straightaway this can't have been all there was to her, as to take up such a fight was more than just hubris. And this movie reeks of the directors' hubris. All points to everyone else that gave stellar quality to a poor artistic effort.

A great opportunity to tell an exciting and unusual life story got lost here. Although I may have forbearance with lack of craft skills. But a filmmaker may not embark on a topic he does not understand or know how to treat and process. This production is extremely clumsily thrown together. Sometimes it becomes involuntarily comical even. Melissa Leo deserves an apology.

This film tells the story of an activist who goes missing.

I haven't heard of this real life story before, so I find the story intriguing and engaging. It is quite sad that her son didn't care about her disappearance at all. It is also sad that she seems to have alienated everyone around her, when all she has done is to speak her mind.

There seems to be a lot missing from what may be a biased/white washed account of events. Even though the acting is solid and the storyline engaging the whole deal is frustrating.

This film is simply average. Honestly, a documentary about the woman in question would have been a heck of a lot more entertaining. Whoever made this, just did not have a big enough budget give birth to a film based on something that happened over 40 years ago.

Casting is excellent, acting great. Wigs = wtf. Melissa Leo deserves a nomination; she's fantastic. The story is fantastic. But for some reason the plot doesn't work, the pacing doesn't work, the editing doesn't work. It's like the producers and writers did their jobs; but the director was either hamfisted or incompetent. What a missed opportunity. I could see this as an I Tonya companion; what a bizarre quirky tale to tell, lost to poor organisation and vision.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair was most of all a very colorful character. At the time when women were seen, but not heard, she was definitely both seen and heard. A lawyer who never passed the bar, she found her battle in attacking the pervasive influence of religion on every tier of American society. And she didn't flinch. Being violently antagonistic became her bread and butter, and he managed to make quite a bit of money. The movie in its 91 minutes scans over most of the important things, focusing on her abduction and everything that happened afterwards. We just don't get to see who she was, and what made her the fiery personality the masses abhorred. Shame for this missed opportunity to shed the light on the women who single-handedly took on the hypocritical establishment. She was far from perfect, and the establishment? Why waste words.

This could have been a very BIG story. But it was obviously put into the hands of people who were not up to the task. This 'most hated woman' recognized how Government regularly insinuates itself in the education of children, and decided to do something about it through Article ! of the Constitution. I think the subject needs to be re-visited, hopefully in the very near future. Acting performances were very poor, except for herione herself. Grisly execution scene...

There is an incident that has happened and this event has been handled as well as a little research. I felt like I was watching a documentary while watching. It made me wonder about what would happen. It was a good movie as a cinema.

Unfortunately this movie is at best only mediocre, at worst a poor job of telling a fascinating story. The actress Melissa Leo is absolutely MISCAST as Murray-O'Hair and suffers through the part unable to capture the essence of a complicated, disturbed, and controversial woman. I looked forward to this movie but watch it with disappointment. I wish a more thorough detailed story could have been told about Madalyn Murray-O'Hair. Better than nothing but that's not saying much!

Enjoyable bio-pic of Madalyn Murray O'Hair the most famous Atheist that probably lived. Maybe she's the reason that hymns stopped being sung in the school that I attended in Blighty.. Who knows in middle school it was mid 80s by the 90s they had stopped.

It's always hard to do a film like this because let's be honest you are only going to get one side of the kidnap story from the actual point of the hostage situation. We will never know what happened during those days and what ultimately lead to the story coming to its grime end.

What happened to the gold?

Did his account really happen, I doubt it but again only have half a story to tell.

What is undeniable is the blunder of the police not to act sooner which could have saved lives.

I wish more of the film would have been dedicated to how they got to that point and her life story, it could have been better. She has left a legacy and let's be honest it's the only belief that has never started a war.

BTW yes I'm an....

If you interested in the case I would encourage you to see it. It is by no means a masterpiece or groundbreaking but it does keep you entertained and has solid performances.