I found this film gripping considering it is very long and the lead characters were particularly well portrayed. In fact it would be hard to find any bad acting in this film and it is directed in such a way that you want to know what happens. The ending might be disappointing to some as it ends in 1999 when the killer was still in France. He has since been extradited and is in Jail. The real killer wasn't as good looking as the actor portraying him and it is hard to imagine why so many girls fell for him. I guess he really was charismatic and could use mind control techniques, but even more amazing is how many intelligent people got taken in by him. That older rich woman was apparently sending him money while he was on the run ( she should have been arrested as far as I am concerned ). However great little film and well worth a watch.

If you're looking to dissuade your daughters from the fella she adores but you think little of, have her sit through this. Ira Einhorn was a celebrity of the peace / earth movements of the 60s and 70s. Extremely well respected, his peacenik persona cloaked a darker side that hated women and thought very little of anything other than himself and his personal causes. When his long-time girlfriend Holly Maddux decides to leave him, she disappears and eighteen months later her decomposed body is found in a locked trunk in his apartment. Through it all, Ira maintains his innocence, doing his best to convince the world that the American Government set him up, that Holly's murder was done to 'embarrass' him. Out on bail, he flees the country and lives at large in the UK until being caught in the late 90s in France. The French, however, knowing he has been convicted in absentia of Holly's murder and faces life in prison without parole once returned to the US, refuses to extradict him. Apparently, a higher court overturned this decision and he is currently appealing a later order to be sent back. Kevin Anderson and Naomi Watts are superb as the leads; he gives you the shivers as he unveils the layers of a clearly narcissistic sociopath and she, simply, breaks your heart. How many promising young women have you known who fall victim to their own lack of identity and the whims of an abusive lover? Filmed as a tv miniseries, this is a three and a half hour vehicle for victim's rights. While the first half of this is used to set up Ira and Holly's dysfunctional relationship, the perspective of Holly's family, and the anguish they go through in trying to bring their daughter's murderer to justice, takes precedence in the second half. If the evidence weren't so damning against Ira Einhorn, this would be just another manipulative movie of the week (however well acted). As it is, it leaves the viewer haunted by the possibilities of a life brutally extinguished and infuriated by the fact that justice is continually skirted by the one person responsible for the crime.

I have read several books and viewed many documentaries(even an episode of "America's Most Wanted") concerning this case and still come away with the feeling that there is more to the story than is being told. Ira Einhorn was a hippie guru in Philadelphia during the 60s and 70s, and was heavily involved in thought control, paranormal, and computer information programs. He always claimed that the CIA and other government agencies were monitoring his activities, and some of this is brought out in this movie. However, for the most part this is the story from the slain woman's family point of view. I also found it very interesting that the lawyer that got Einhorn out on bail(for murder for Pete's sake!)was none other than Arlen Spector, author of the JFK "magic bullet theory" and involved in many congressional intelligence oversight activities. Watching this movie, or following the case, one can see some of the Danny Casolaro incident present. This movie is presented fairly well, and the acting is superb, but watch it and read between the lines!

A beautiful, intelligent, 21 year old woman meets a philandering activist charmer with a Jekyl and Hyde personality. 75% of the movie is about his powers of seduction -- of women, of students, of wealthy supporters -- through the strength of his IQ and his devotion to "peace" and liberal causes. It is never clear why the woman stays with him through all the abuse. He refuses to marry her, forces her to have an abortion, forces her to dance as a stripper to support him, keeps her from her family and friends, reads and marks up her journal (diary), insults her in public, etc. while he continues to play around. Some time after she disappears, his apartment is finally searched, and the woman's body is found there in a trunk. The film portrays the torment of her family, his eventual trial, and regrettably, his escape from justice where the movie ends unsatisfactorily.I normally wouldn't sit through a movie like this, especially for three hours, but because of the title, and his overt identification as "the unicorn" from the very first scenes, I kept hoping that he would be the one who was going to be killed, since he was such a jerk! Unless you are a fan of the male lead, or you enjoy character studies of "nice guy" psychopaths, skip this. Tom Skerit's role as the father who incidentally has a Nazi flag in his den, is disappointing (since we knew he could have solved the case in half the time if this were 'Picket Fences'). No other character portrayals are worthy of mention. Hope my review saves you from the same disappointment and waste of time.