Word: reals
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...case against Randall Adams [a man unjustly imprisoned for shooting a policeman], which consisted of five 'eyewitnesses.' There three wacko eyewitnesses that claim to have passed by the crime scene at that crucial moment, a policewoman, and David Harris, the chief prosecution witness who turns out to be the real killer. And so we learn sequentially that all of these accounts are wrong...
...that it blends two genres: the mystery-detective story in which the writer is aware of the outcome even as the exposition takes place, and the documentary film, which is known for its spontaneity. Through this combination, the audience is treated to a step-by-step account of a real investigation...
...criminal. Yet they are also the same ones who waltz with each other by candlelight, and go to jail with dignity and calm. Van's frat boy friend, Trey, is a drunkard and a friend of a bigot who picks fights with Jews, yet he also forms real affection for Van, and in a thoroughly confused but sweet gesture, tries to hook Van up with his girlfriend...
...ensemble cast as well is particularly well-suited to this gentle exploration. On one hand, we have Tony award winning actors Bebe Neuwirth and Joe Mantegna lending real gravitas and heart to their roles as the parents of the two boys. On the other hand, we have a cast of largely unknown actors, many in their feature film debuts, which perhaps contributes to that gently searching and hesitant quality so poignant and well-suited to a film about identity...
...forgiven, to love or to be loved. Having built ample and complex backstory for them, Anderson sets his characters in place and then allows them to free-fall, introducing no new crises or red herrings, setting up almost nothing for later payoff. The film's only real plot points come, subversively, in the form of occasional weather reports-and they, too, are fascinating...