New film inspired by Robert Durst story has a Sparta connection

Durst family threatens to file suit if film is released, By Fran Hardy Sparta — For most people, the new film “All Good Things” starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, set to debut on Dec. 3, will be yet another intriguing Hollywood love story and murder mystery about the secret lives of the rich and powerful. But art often imitates life and for Sparta resident Jim McCormack and his family, this film will be much more than just another salacious and sensational drama. For the McCormacks, the events depicted in this movie are based on truth far stranger than any fiction Hollywood can concoct. “All Good Things” was inspired by the real-life story of Robert Durst, son of a wealthy New York real estate magnate, who was allegedly scarred as a child after witnessing his mother’s suicide. A checkered life followed, with tales of strange and erratic behaviors. Durst’s courtship and marriage to first wife Kathie seemed a bright spot in his life, and when even that soured, Durst allegedly became abusive. But before Kathie could file for divorce in 1982, she disappeared without a trace. Her body has never been found. Kathie Durst was Jim McCormack’s little sister. Durst was suspected but never tried for the presumed murder of his wife and her fate remains a mystery. Hers is still one of the most notorious missing person’s cases in New York history. But Durst’s strange story went on. He was later suspected in the death of a long-time friend and confident in California, and tried for the murder of a neighbor in a boarding house in Galveston, Texas where he was hiding out dressed as a mute older woman. He was acquitted of the murder, after admitting he killed the man in self defense and dismembered the body. However, the Texas jury found him guilty of improperly disposing of a body but he served only nine months of a five year sentence. Currently, Durst’s whereabouts is not known. The head of the body he dismembered was never found. “All Good Things” loosely follows these events but focuses on the relationship between Robert and Kathie, tracing its disturbing decline leading up to her disappearance. The title refers to a health food store the couple owned and managed in Vermont. A line from the movie’s publicity poster says it all, “The perfect love story . . . until it became the perfect crime.” The film is directed by Andrew Jarecki, with Gosling playing the lead as David Marks (the Robert Durst character), and Dunst playing Katie Marks (the Kathie Durst character). Frank Langella plays Sanford Marks who is modeled after the Durst family patriarch and former head of the Durst Organization, the late Seymour Durst. But other members of the Durst family, from whom Robert is estranged, and the mega-million dollar Durst Organization, which owns and operates multiple high-end Manhattan properties, are not exactly buying popcorn and lining up for the film’s premiere. Last month, Deadline New York (an entertainment industry blog) and the Wall Street Journal reported that attorneys for the Durst family and their organization have launched a preemptive strike attempting to block the film’s release. Lawyers have threatened the Dursts will sue both Jarecki and Magnolia Pictures, the film’s distributor, if the film is released and distributed. They claim the film falsely depicts the Durst family and their company. Jarecki and Magnolia Pictures plan to release the film as scheduled, with the New York premiere on Dec. 1, and the public release on Dec. 3. A west coast premiere will follow in mid-December. Jim McCormack and his wife Sharon have been involved with the film since its inception and have developed a close working relationship and friendship with Jarecki. They will attend the New York premiere. During her initial character study for the role of Kathleen McCormack Durst, Kirsten Dunst visited the McCormacks in their Sparta home in 2008 to discuss their memories of Kathie and learn more about her.