“Prosecutors in Dallas have said for years – any prosecutor can convict a guilty man. It takes a great prosecutor to convict an innocent man.” – Melvyn Carson Bruder
Number of Times Seen – 1 (24 Dec 2015)
Brief Synopsis – One of the first ever Investigative Documentaries that takes us into the investigation of a police murder where it’s possible the accused man really didn’t do it.
My Take on it – This is such a ground breaking documentary that was one of the first ones to take an event and try to prove that the facts are not as they really seem.
The director, Errol Morris used his skills as a former Private Detective to piece together the whole story in order to try and show proof that the convicted man really was innocent.
He uses lots of interviews with many of the key players in the trial and by recreating events to show his proof of this.
It’s amazing how it is all put together for us and it tells a very captivating story.
This movie opened the door for so many other documentaries to follow and changed the face of what people thought of these kind of movies.
Bottom Line – Great documentary that really set a trend ever since. Investigative documentary reporting is done so well. Tells us just about everything that happened that night and it pieces it all together to give us a full picture of the events. Highly Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Was rejected by the Oscars for Best Documentary category in 1989 because it was considered to be a fictional film due to its scripted content. (From IMDB)
Rating – Oscar Worthy
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Great review, Rob! This is one of the best documentaries ever made. Too bad Documentary is like a dirty word to most of the audience. Legendary filmmaker Morris broke new ground with using recreations in TRL. Although it’s a doc it feels like an exciting thriller (as you nail with the trivia). The score from Howard Shore is incredible as well, fueling the energetic storytelling. This doc inspired artists, changing the style of documentaries forever, while still having substance and fighting for a cause. Thanks for spotlighting such an influential piece of art. Curious about the genre? Start here. It almost feels like this is what a Scorsese crime doc would be like.
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