Tribute (TV Movie 2009)

Tribute: Directed by Martha Coolidge. With Brittany Murphy, Jason Lewis, Christian Oliver, Diana Scarwid. A former child star buys her grandmother’s house to rescue it from ruin but her hope for serenity is soon eclipsed by haunting dreams of her famous grandmother, who died of a supposed overdose in the house more than 30 years ago.

“***SPOILERS*** Going back to her roots in Virginiau0026#39;s Shenandoah Valley former child movie star Cilla McGowan, Brittany Murphy, is determined to restore her grandmotheru0026#39;s,the legendary Academy Award winning actress and singer, Janet Hardy (Tiffany Morgan) southern mansion. The place over the last thirty five years has gone to pot since Janetu0026#39;s tragic death-at age 38-back in the winter of 1971 from a massive overdose of barbiturates.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt doesnu0026#39;t take long for Cilla to make enemies in town with the angry and a bit unstable-to say the least- Old Man Carl Hennessey, Wallace Merck, suspiciously snooping around her house. Hennessey later shows how very very unneighborly like he is by him spitting in Cillau0026#39;s face when she confronted him about his very strange and bizarre actions. It turned out that Cillau0026#39;s Uncle Johnnie was responsible-by driving drunk-in Carlu0026#39;s son-who was a passenger in Johnnieu0026#39;s car- ending up paralyzed from the neck down!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThereu0026#39;s also the fact that Janet was also having an affair with one of her neighbors that by Cilla uncovering his love letters, all unsigned, to her strongly hinted that she got pregnant by him! This may well have lead, in Janetu0026#39;s lover trying to save his marriage, to her murder not suicide as reported by the, back then in 1971, local coroner!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGetting romantically involved with her next door-or next farm- neighbor Ford Sawyer, Jason Lewis, a local graphic designer Cilla soon becomes the target of some local lunatic who, like some half dozen others in town, has it in for her for what Cillau0026#39;s family-or late Grandma Janet Hardy-actions did to him. Itu0026#39;s this shadowy psycho whou0026#39;s constantly breaking into Cillau0026#39;s now restored mansion,and wrecking the joint, while sheu0026#39;s away mostly spending her nights at Fordu0026#39;s place. It soon becomes evident to the police that Old Man Hennessey isnu0026#39;t the person thatu0026#39;s committing these property crimes and acts of terror since heu0026#39;s been locked up all the time that theyu0026#39;ve been happening to Cilla. Then whou0026#39;s the person committing them?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs we all suspect, due to her very wild and anything goes lifestyle, the person driving poor Cillau0026#39;s nuts has to be the man, or possibly his very jealous wife, whom Janet had an affair with just before her sudden and mysterious death! Itu0026#39;s then that Cilla as well as her boyfriend Ford Sawyer realizes that it was that person who very possibly murdered Janet, and had it made to look like a suicide, and now in her getting close to the truth is going to do the very same thing to Cilla!”