Devil's Knot

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

In 1993, three young boys were found murdered in the river of a southern town in America. The finger of suspicion fell on several heavy metal obsessed teenagers, who were suspected of being involved in devil worship. On learning that the death penalty was being considered, attorney Ron Lax (Colin Firth) springs in to action, assembling a legal team to represent the boys in court and overcome the hysteria of the town. While desperate for closure and keeping a narrow grip on her sanity, Pam (Reese Witherspoon), one of the bereaved mothers, is also unable to clear herself of doubt over the boys guilt.

While not what could be called a fact is stranger than fiction piece of work, Devil's Knot also has a more engaging quality somehow on the grounds that it's based on a true story, serving as it does as an examination of the legal system, and of people's small mindedness and tendency towards knee jerk reactions in the face of acts of over- whelming evil. In as unflinching a style as one can expect from modern films, it dramatizes the true horror and subsequent raw emotions of a small town on the edge. It's helped no end by reliably stellar performances from the lead stars and supporting cast, and it's all pretty on the level, but it's also sadly not the sum of it's parts.

As well as staging it all pretty well, director Atom Egoyan also strives to keep the authenticity to a high standard, with Firth delivering a fine American accent, at the top of every other little minor detail. Somehow, though, he manages to muddle the pace up, delivering a film that while telling a compelling story, is detailed in a slightly meandering, plodding fashion that stops it being the sum of it's parts. The parts this effects most is the conclusion, delivering a pay off that could have been electrifying, but as a result is merely perfunctory.

Still, it's a riveting, interesting real life thriller, boosted no ends from great turns by two reliable lead performers. ***

I had loosely heard of the West Memphis Three for years, but only now do I understand the full story. I'd say that Atom Egoyan is the proper director, since he specializes in grim topics (a school bus crash, the Armenian Genocide, etc). The preacher's claim that satanic music caused the defendants to commit the murders sounds like the typical stuff that we hear from religious nuts. As for the movie's focus on Stevie Branch's family as opposed to all three families, it was most likely because they cast Reese Witherspoon as the mother.

The movie ends by noting what happened in the years after the trial ended. What's most intriguing is that the man who came into Bojangles's and was never seen again. What secrets do all the people in West Memphis hide? Whatever the case, this sounds like one horrifying event. "Devil's Knot" is not a great movie, but I recommend it. Also starring Colin Firth, Mireille Enos, Alessandro Nivola and Bruce Greenwood.

There are very few instances in this world where the reality of the matter is more interesting than any form of fiction. Such is the case with Canadian director Atom Egoyan's newest film Devil's Knot. Gripping, chilling, and in many instances disturbing, the film is a mildly rewarding take on a story that doesn't need a feature film to highlight anymore high tension than it already has.

Tackling the very daunting task of offering new insight in the on-again/off-again case of the West Memphis murders, Devil's Knot is a short yet ample "For Dummies" version film about a case that has been exhausted through documentaries (the Paradise Lost documentary film trilogy and West of Memphis) as well as various biographies, books and extensive media coverage.

Egoyan's film, which is based on the book Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt, is really the first high- profile film project (excluding Peter Jackson's producing credit in West of Memphis) with A-List actors who paint a vivid picture of the people involved in the case, the victims and the "accused". From Reese Witherspoon to Colin Firth, the film is a by-the-numbers drama with sub-powerful performances that gives off a satisfactory feeling of relief; a relief that suffices only from the time you leave the theatre, to the time you get home and find out more about the case yourself.

The film follows Ron Lax (Firth), a private investigator who decides to take on the West Memphis case pro-bono in what we understand to be the pursuit of a "rightful conviction". Throughout his investigation, Lax uncovers numerous instances of judicial injustice, inconsistencies in the evidence, and improper police protocol that would have been crucial to solving the case and proving the innocence of the three young accused.

Egoyan is no stranger to dramas centred around the tragedy of the loss of children, or innocence for that matter. It seems as though no one else could have adapted Leveritt's book as throughly as him, yet Egoyan's vision is always second-string to the facts and the reality of the case itself. Often times veering in the direction of a 'made-for-televison film', or treading the fine line of being a special episode on CSI or Law & Order, the film is a washed out, third party perspective that attempts to be unbiased throughout, but still takes a strong side by the time the credits roll.

Much like the case itself, the film was able to round out a very high-profile group of individuals in front of the camera, especially given the small nature of the film and it's light $15 million budget. From Mireille Enos, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Ryan, Dane DeHaan, and Matt Letscher, to television stars Stephen Moyer and Martin Henderson, and Egoyan favourites Elias Koteas and Bruce Greenwood, the film is a star-studded festival entry despite it's surface level insight, cowardly execution and lack of style.

The film succeeds when it trembles the notions of stereotypes and common, misunderstood motifs. Once tragedy struck, the town of West Memphis seemed to be content with the fact that Damien Echols (James Hamrick) and his two friends, Jessie Misskelley Jr. (Kristopher Higgins) and Jason Baldwin (Seth Meriwether), were accused of murder solely because they listened to heavy metal music and dressed in black. The film shows the ridiculousness of society's stubborn ability to shed little light on the truth of misunderstood forms of art.

Set within the small town, low income, 'Bible Belt' of the United States, the film shows the very colourful contentions between the presence of the "unholy", as well as how quick people are to vilify anything it doesn't understand, even if that means sentencing an innocent teenager to death. It is in the scenes where Lax investigates the facts that could potentially lead to these young men's freedom, that the film flourishes leaps and bounds. From unaccredited sources and not-so-expert witnesses, to completely fabricated testimonies, the film acts as Lax's own personal assistant, as he navigates a seamlessly normal town which actually might have a few skeletons in it's closet after all. The film shows just how convenient and perfect the outcasts of society, especially within the small Hillbilly pockets of the United States, really are.

Highlighting the ignorance of small-town Southern US communities, the laughable prediction amidst the accusations of alleged Satanic rituals, and giving a very graphic and unabridged look on how these innocent little boys were recovered from a lake (aptly titled the Devil's Den), Devil's Knot would have worked best as an HBO special. Instead it succeeds best as a visual piece of narrative whose greatest testament is allowing it's audience to indulge in shocking images and discomforting truths. Ironically enough, Devil's Knot is riveting most when no dialogue is spoken–in the scenes involving the search and discovery of the bodies and the reactions of the victim's parents, especially Witherspoon's.

Upon conclusion, and much like the case itself, the film continues to insinuate that within the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas, everybody may be a real suspect in the unwarranted murder of three eight-year old boys. If anything, Devil's Knot is an appetizer size, introductory piece of narrative cinema that will surely serve as a catalyst for people to look into the complexity and uncertainty of one of America's most misunderstood and poorly investigated murder cases of all time.

I have seen a lot of people trash this film, and if you are looking for something on the level of Angelina Jolie's "Changeling", you will be disappointed. If though, you are tolerant of a low budget but effective dramatization of a very tangled, disturbing, and tragic story about 3 young boys losing their lives to murder and 3 young men losing their lives to a group of detectives and justice system blinded by emotion, you will appreciate this film. Reece is fantastic as the mom of one of the victims. She is the big name in the film, though you will recognize several actors who are not quite up to her level of star power. I am a bit of a junkie on this case, and I was not disappointed. I think it does a fair job of presenting the defense's perspective. Granted, if you think they are guilty, and there are many who do, then you will be angered by its presentation. Nonetheless, I was very pleased with it.

As films go, and not being familiar with this particular case (because I'm British) I found it really interesting, and think it might be a good introduction to the real case. Especially since a lot of these reviews say the truth is stranger than fiction?

I liked the fact it didn't seem over dramatic, but I think it would have been nicer to have given the boys put on trial more screen time getting to know them. Especially since they were most likely innocent. The actors who filled the mail roles seemed pretty good too. And none of the lines seemed cheesy or bad either.

I'm aware that if you are looking for facts, dramatisations aren't the best source, but it's really sparked my interest in learning more about what really happened.