Mamet's 'Phil Spector' film looks set to cause a row

David Mamet's forthcoming HBO film, which stars Al Pacino as disgraced record producer Phil Spector, looks set to fuel controversy according to 'The Observer' newspaper.

The film, 'Phil Spector' written and directed by Mamet and also starring Helen Mirren as Spector's lawyer, Linda Kenney Baden, is due to be shown next weekend in the US. Apparently victims' rights groups are worried that the film will attempt to cast doubt over the guilty verdict that was delivered following Spector's trial for the murder of Lana Clarkson.

At the same time Spector's wife, Rachelle Spector - a 32-year old singer - has told 'The Oberver' that she believes the film constitutes a breach of client-attorney confidentiality between Spector, 73, and Kenney Baden, who was an adviser to HBO and fears it will serve to further her husband's reputation as a "freak and a megalomaniac."

Spector's wife told the paper: ''My husband is not this fictionalised monster… They didn't get OJ Simpson or Robert Blake or Michael Jackson, so they had to get somebody and they spent $30m to get my husband. They hadn't convicted a celebrity in 40 years, so the pressure was on."

Spector's wife's concerns that the film may hamper her attempts to get her husband cleared come despite Mamet, along with HBO consultants Kenney Baden and Vikram Jayanti, publicly declaring that he feels Spector is innocent.

The film-makers feel that the judge on the trial failed to allow evidence to be admitted that would have shown that the legendary producer could not have shot B-Movie actress Clarkson.