Worldview Entertainment,
Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Dane DeHaan, Mireille Enos, Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Stephen Moyer, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Ryan, Robert Baker
This crime story is based on a book of the same name covering the murder of three eight year old boys in the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas. Because it was a very brutal murder, everyone was anxious to find and prosecute the killers as quickly as possible. The teens became the focus because of their penchant for things like wearing black, listening to heavy metal music, and being interested in the occult. But did their rush to nail someone for the crime cause a horrible miscarriage of justice? This film, based on a true story tries to look at that possibility.
This is an interesting story that I had never heard anything about. Being a true story, it was all the more interesting. It’s very appropriate for the current time since there is the same kind of mass fear going around that is often very unfounded. In this time, in this town, there was a concern about the behaviors of the teens of the town that seemed to love heavy metal music, show an interest in the occult, and wear all black. The citizens were all fired up, just like the Salem witch trials of long ago, and is often the case, ready to convict whoever is handy, just to solve such a horrible crime. The moral question of a rush to judgement, and guilt unless proving innocence makes this an intriguing story. But at the same time, the story seems to have taken a side, and been told to uphold the side of the author, so I’m not sure they really pulled off an open minded story. Choosing facts to prove your point is a dangerous method of determining the truth. The performance of the primary actors in this movie is at a very high level. This is a bit of a different role for Reese Witherspoon, but it goes to show what a talented actress she’s become. Very good job. Colin Firth, on the other hand, seems to have been slighted in this film. It appears that he is going to have a major role, and it was really sidelined early on, and he mostly puts in an appearance. He usually has a much meatier role, and this is not one of his best by any means. All in all, though, it’s a good story and an interesting case, and as a fan of courtroom stories, this was an interesting film. I think it’s well worth watching.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
