I Am Elizabeth Smart

I went in with reasonably low expectations with this being a made for TV movie but ended up liking it more than I expected. It's probably a 7/10 movie but because I wasn't bored once, the acting was so good and it exceeded my expectations I gave it 8.

This film seems like a Charles Manson story clone. Very slow to watch if it was on the Cinema I would demand my money back. These film are either great or pathetically poor. I get no buzz from this at all.

I wanted to offer this review because, as a self-defense teacher and as a film afficianado, I feel I am compelled to give my take on it. The importance of this movie is clear - to let people know how crazy the world can be, how fear overrides a lot of your decision-making, and to tell the unique story of Elizabeth Smart. This movie was done well in terms of acting with the two leads looking almost identically to the actual people. Undoubtedly you'll read in these reviews that viewers had problems with one thing - the clips of the actual Elizabeth Smart speaking about the experience during particular harrowing scenes. The problem is that it comes across as cheesy, stops the story cold, and seems like she is trying to convince the viewer that what she did was the ONLY thing that she could have done. I didn't personally think harshly on this, however I didn't care how it interrupted the story and flow of the film. If I were the one making this, I would have added her remarks (and even interviews with her family and past footage) at the end. While the movie, which is good for a Lifetime movie, follows Elizabeth at every moment, it would have been nice to see to what extend the rest of the world was invested in finding her. Movies like this about survival and perseverance should be made and certainly seen.

It's great to have the context from Elizabeth Smart herself in this movie. It's also really good to appreciate a bit more what she went through and how miraculous it was that she not only survived, but is mentally fine after all that abuse. Obviously, since Elizabeth herself is narrating the film, you can be sure that everything in the movie happened and nothing was needlessly dramatized.

However, from a filmmaker's standpoint, it could have been a bit better. They could have skipped back and forth between her point of view and that of her parents' to show their efforts in trying to find her and the developments that were going on outside her campsite. They didn't even explain how the police knew to find her (her sister remembered the voice of the suspect and they tracked him down).

I also don't like how through narration Elizabeth seems to try and justify all her actions throughout the piece. Does anyone doubt that she wanted to stop being abused? The film almost seems like a reply video to a bunch of people that question why she didn't yell for help. I dunno. To me, it's obvious and was forced a bit much, but maybe that's the audience Elizabeth was wanting to address in particular.

Overall, a great documentary of the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. Cinematically, it could have been improved, but it did the job for the purpose it was filmed for.

The fact that Elisabeth is alive and telling her nightmare is unbelievable in its own right. It's extremely likely that if she did anything it would mean death added to the already unspeakable torture both physically and mentally that she endured. It's akso extremely unlikely that a survivor has the guts or stamina to share that time period in her life. MOST survivors go into a self absorbed, protective mode that makes them unable or unwilling to tell her/his story to the world in fear of being blamed by society. For Elizabeth Smart to tour the free world telling her facts and helping save countless lives from doing it is absolutely remarkable. She is in my book a true hero and a extremely beautiful soul.

The movie itself while not the best put together cinematic piece it is, IMO a must watch.