'The People V. O.J. Simpson' Bursts With Sharp Scenes, Powerful Performances

Back in the early 1960s, Philip Roth wrote a famous essay declaring that modern American life had gotten so delirious that it dwarfed fiction's ability to match it. Never did his words seem truer than in 1994, when O.J. Simpson — football god, mediocre movie actor and amiable pitchman for Hertz — was charged with butchering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

From the discovery of the bodies in well-heeled Brentwood to the rapid verdict of "not guilty" — which flabbergasted white America — the 15-month saga was an explosion of tabloid surrealism in which horror played hopscotch with hilarity.

The Trial of the Century, as it was known, comes to enthralling life in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, an irresistible 10-part FX series that marks a new high for its creator, Ryan Murphy. Adapted by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski from Jeffrey Toobin's nonfiction book, The Run of His Life, this fictionalized show is bursting with sharp scenes, pungent performances and a sense of America running amok. It could easily be titled Un-making a Murderer.

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