Ottawa

As I walked out of the theatre I would have given this a 9 for its exposure of how justice was not well served initially and then continued to not be served even as more evidence came to light. Which is a testament to its telling of a compelling story. But then as I thought about it more, the trial by doc of the other potential suspect is totally unfair and open to manipulation by the film maker. I don't like that, it is no more appropriate than trial by facebook. He deserves his day in court not in a movie financed by Peter Jackson.

Take an extra hanky. I normally avoid documentaries until they are on cable or tv but I drive through West Memphis a couple of times a year so I decided to take a look see. A very interesting following of the 18 years these guys were locked up. Makes you really wonder about the justice system. Hope there is a follow up to answer all of the unanswered.

[ATTENTION: This review reveals content of the movie.]
It is an important timeless subject, but the way the documentary was done made many things seem unclear; and I am not the only one to say so. I spoke with 2 other people (I did not know) who have seen the movie at the same show: once the movie finished, all 3 were wondering how it came to the arrest of the 3 teenagers as suspects and how the jury came to the conclusion they were guilty. We could not even remember what the first scene of the movie was. WAS IT THE CONTINUOUS MONOTONOUS NARRATION THAT WAS DISTRACTING? Once the community knew that the three men were not guilty how could they live without getting the real criminal? Why was the DNA ignored to indict him? Even constitutions can be changed and rewritten. Why can't a law that prevents HUGE mistakes with HUGE consequences from being corrected later? And what happened to the three teenagers who became men after 18 years in prison? Did they sue someone to compensate for their lives destroyed? A VERY INTERESTING DOCUMENTARY THOUGH, AND INFORMATIVE. I wish I could ask a lawyer.

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