Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 19: MAKING A KILLING: GUNS, GREED, AND THE NRA

Robert Greenwald’s polemic against the pro-gun lobby debuts this weekend around the country.

Like his previous films about Halliburton, the Koch brothers, and Wal-Mart, Greenwald’s latest exhaustively trumpets that the core motivation of the National Rifle Association is not some principled desire to protect a constitutional right but instead a far simpler one: profit, at any cost. With its pointed subtitle, this won’t come as a surprise to anyone, and will just serve to confirm the viewpoint of its likely audience of like-minded gun control advocates – it’s hard to imagine that the NRA membership would bother to watch. In practice, the film falls short of its intended goal – beyond noting the annual salaries of key NRA officials and the profits of notable gun companies or gun sellers, it doesn’t dig deeper than listing NRA campaign contribution amounts to legislators who have blocked sensible gun laws and, in a big misstep, flashing pictures of mansions, yachts, and private jets as some kind of indictment against profit – as if these trappings of success are somehow unique to this industry. Instead of investigating the money trail further, Greenwald instead spends the bulk of his film on several stories related to gun violence, including a woman shot by her estranged husband, a teenager accidentally killed with a family’s unlocked gun, a suicide enabled by an impulsive gun purchase, a broader consideration of illegal guns in Chicago, and the Aurora CO movie theatre mass shooting. While overlong, particularly the Chicago segment, these episodes illustrate textbook examples of the problems with America’s lax gun laws, from the lack of background checks and waiting periods to the gun show loophole. Hammering the point home, Greenwald overlays statistic over statistic over statistic, so much so that they sadly become numbing after awhile. Ultimately, the film has the best of intentions, but is hampered by its execution.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, August 16: BLOODSWORTH: AN INNOCENT MAN

Gregory Bayne’s portrait of a man wrongly sentenced to death row debuted in Baltimore last August. It came to VOD this past February.

In 1985, based solely on eyewitness testimony, Kirk Bloodsworth, a 22-year-old former Marine was convicted of the rape and murder of nine-year-old Dawn Hamilton. As recounted in Bayne’s film, the authorities arrested the wrong man. Over the course of nearly a decade, Bloodsworth maintained his innocence, and, once he learned about the possibility of testing DNA, found a means to clear his name, ultimately becoming the first American sentenced to death to be exonerated in this matter. Since his release, he has become a crusader against wrongful convictions, with this project his latest tool to share his story. While Bayne’s sparse approach provides the viewer with an intimate experience of his captivating subject, the film’s structure unfortunately robs his story of full dramatic impact, moving back and forth in time and revealing the would-be surprising details of Bloodsworth’s case too early.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, August 16: TIN SOLDIERS

Ben Duffy’s look at adaptive sports athletes debuted at San Juan earlier this year. The Orchard now releases the doc on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Xbox, and other VOD platforms.

After an unnecessary prologue, Duffy proceeds to profile several individuals of varying ages and ability who take part in sports adapted to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. This survey approach introduces viewers to the likes of a double amputee power lifter and CrossFit trainer, a Paralympian gold medalist in both wheelchair basketball and alpine skiing, and an adorable three-year-old with spina bifida who participates in WCMX – BMX with wheelchairs. Earnest in its desire to demonstrate the inspirational nature of its subjects and their adaptability to adversity, the film is unfortunately hampered by a distracting score but will serve as a useful educational and awareness-building tool.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 16: MIKE NICHOLS: AN AMERICAN MASTER

Elaine May’s tribute to her legendary comedy partner made its debut as part of PBS’s American Masters series at the start of the year.

The second of two Nichols-focused films this year, following the Sundance-debuting BECOMING MIKE NICHOLS, also draws much of its running time from an extended interview with the acclaimed director, supplemented with brief comments from collaborators and with a few scenes of his work. He’s an engaging and warm presence, offering insight into his work on stage and screen, while the likes of Meryl Streep, Tony Kushner, and Matthew Broderick express their admiration for his talent and wit. Surprisingly, May herself only appears in archival clips, choosing, it seems, to allow this film instead of a talking head interview to address her feelings for the late Nichols. Limited in its scope by the television-hour running time, however, this project is best watched in conjunction with the other Nichols profile to provide a fuller sense of the multi-hyphenate’s long career and achievements.