Aarcflick

 Some great performances hide big holes in NBC's “The Matthew Shepard Story.” Telepic is a spare, flashback-fueled biography that manages to strike some of the right emotional chords, but one of America's most notable hate crimes and its knock-on effects feels too condensed and rushed.  Stockard Channing and Sam Waterston are ideal as grieving parents, and to that end, their tale is particularly moving. What's missing is a sense of urgency and outrage, a message to everyone that the 1998 murder of a kind, kind soul was much more than material for another movie of the week. Director: Roger Spottiswoode Writers: John Wierick, Jacob Krueger Stars: Stockard Channing, Shane Meier, Wendy Crewson Following in the footsteps of “The Laramie Project,” HBO's superior “Shepard,” produced by Goldie Hawn, becomes trapped in made-for network conventions. Softer than it should be, it feels important but succumbs to the restrictions imposed on broadcast television. While there are speci...