Charles T
In November 1976 in Dallas, Texas, Police Officer Robert Wood was shot and killed while making an otherwise routine traffic stop. One man was arrested and sentenced to death for the crime, based on the testimony of a sixteen year old acquaintance. These basic facts are covered in one of the most brilliant films to come out of the 1980's. Randall Adams was no drifter. He was moving from Ohio and was staying in Dallas with his brother. He found a good job, and planned on living there a while. Then he met David Harris, a punk from a Klan-infested small town in southern Texas. The officer is murdered, and Harris blames Adams, even though Harris gloated about shooting the young cop to his friends. Adams was railroaded into prison while Harris embarked on a petty crime spree. He continued his misdemeanor ways until he actually killed a man during a botched kidnapping. Now Harris was in jail, and Adams was still appealing his conviction. Witnesses came forward claiming to have seen Adams shoot Wood, yet none of them have a gleam of credibility. Finally, Adams gets some decent lawyers, who begin working to get him out. He is granted an appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court, but as of the making of the film, he was still serving life in prison. A little research shows what happened to Randall Adams.
Errol Morris goes where few documentary makers go. He films convincing reenactments of the crime. These are not "Unsolved Mysteries"-type reenactments, Morris has a real director's eye, and gives the audience every detail needed- from a tossed milkshake to the number of people spotted in the killer's car. Philip Glass adds a haunting musical score that gets under your skin and hypnotizes you. The convict Adams is a sincere man, and the film makers are obviously rooting for his cause. Harris is an ignorant punk, enjoying playing games with people's lives. If the Dallas County prosecutors had done their job, Harris would not have committed his second murder: food for thought. Harris' final interview, done on audio cassette, is chilling, and will make a believer of anyone who otherwise thought "this could never happen to me." The three "witnesses" to the slaying are a joke, two in it for the reward, and a salesman who boasts of his photographic memory but cannot recall if Wood's patrol car was in front of or behind Harris' stolen vehicle. "The Thin Blue Line" is more than talking heads, this is a searing story that puts to shame any fiction that tries to cover the same ground. For this kind of thing to happen to an innocent man, it is also very scary.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
09/29/23
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Audience Member
Because I'm the one that knows
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/05/23
Full Review
William L
"When I was a kid I used to want to be a detective all the time because I used to watch all the detective shows on TV. ... I'm always looking because I never know what might come up or how I can help. I like to help, y'know, in situations like that. I really do. You know, it's always happening to me, everywhere I go. Lots of times there's killings, or anything, y'know, even around my house, wherever. And I'm always looking or getting involved, y'know, finding out who did it or what's going on. I listen to people, and I'm always trying to decide who's lying, or who killed who before the police do, see if I could beat 'em."
Jury in Dallas: Seems like a reliable witness.
How can you not love a documentary that so convincingly outlines major shortcomings and corruption in supposedly unquestionable legal systems? So many similar films today go beyond grounded storytelling in some attempt to suggest higher-level connections (which may be valid, but get more tenuous the further you get from verifiable fact), but Morris innovated by not only sticking to the known details of the case and period interviews with those involved, but by also introducing an innovative design and tight editing style that emphasized visual flair and entertainment value with a series of reenactments that highlight the erratic nature of the hodgepodge of shaky testimony that saw a man sentenced to death. The pacing could use some tweaking; so much time is spent compelling building up the original conviction, then appeals are roughly summarized before a ruling by the US Supreme Court is introduced without fanfare and little detail, feeling almost tacked on. But when a documentarian manages to capture content that seems almost parodical in nature, that allows for genuine criticism through sheer absurdity, it's hard to argue against it sincerely. Morris indirectly inspired a slew of true crime imitators that largely continue unabated to the present, often more concerned with pulp than content; few can match this early iteration for power and clever design.
This documentary has some of the snarkiest court paintings you'll ever see, they're fantastic. (4/5)
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
08/25/21
Full Review
Joel C
Well constructed doco, the way the filmmakers create the re-enactments is like trying to relive a memory that is distorted depending on who's POV it is. Criminals, killers, and all that is scary, but the justice system can be next level scary with the power they hold. If the justice system gets tunnel vision on an outcome they want, they can get it, even if you were never there.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/16/21
Full Review
Audience Member
I'm a sucker for a death row documentary, I watch them all. This is another brilliant example of the injustice and corruption that is rife in the US police and judicial system. It's not like there are just a handful of cases like this, they seem to be repeated constantly. A good documentary for sure and led to the conviction being overturned.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Errol Morris has brought true crime documentaries to a high-quality level with this influential, mind-changing and at times quite scary film that offers some compelling evidence of how flawed the American justice system is and how easy it is to convict an innocent man of murder.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
Full Review
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