Un coupable idéal

I happened to leave HBO on last night following Six Feet Under. What ran next has left me speechless. What an incredible piece of work. I don't just recommend this, I MANDATE that you see this. It's better than anything Hollywood could ever ruin. I just hope they never get their hands on it.

Hollywood could not have written this story. Thank God for

documentaries! This story is the frightening tale of a young, unassmuing

black teenager who is wrongfully accused the murder of an elderly white

female tourist. The police are arrogant, corrupt and shameless. The prosecutor seemed

almost non-chalant in her pursuit of the facts and the husband of the

victim was a victim of his own grief and bias. The heroes are the family of the accused and the defense attorney. The

filmmaker was so priveledged to be allowed into the home and church of

the young man's family. The warmth of scenes in the family's church were

well juxtaposed with the sterile wood paneled cortroom. This film should

be required viewing at every police academy in the

This stunning documentary captures a mesmerizing and deeply touching courtroom drama that will make you shout out in rage as well as cry. And you will cheer at a man who is a real-life hero; an angry, chain-smoking warrior whose commitment and dedication to this case provide a shining example for how EVERY defense attorney should work when there is so much at stake for the accused (alas, in real life, real justice mostly seems to be reserved for Hollywood movies). This film will stay with you long after you finished watching. 9 stars out of 10.

In case you're interested in more underrated masterpieces, here's some of my favorites:

imdb.com/list/ls070242495

The subtext which usually emerges when simplicity is avoided in the telling of a morality tale is that good and evil are actually arbitrary. The fresh and shocking impact of this film is that the contrast between good and evil is sharp and clear. So rarely do we see that contrast today that we feel revived from moral slumber, even if momentarily. That's the essence of great storytelling.

Had this documentary told a tale which took place in 1965, I would have thought the film's straightfaced, understated delivery to be somewhat unengaging. However, the fact that the story takes place in 2000 and within our modern police system, it makes for a devastating revelation. The characters are archetypal, as emblemanic as the point being made. Racism, indolence and ineptitude rarely find a stage where they can be observed so pure. We also rarely get the opportunity to watch good people shake the system into behaving the way it should. This film should not be criticized for it's simplicity of point and of it's characters - if anything, we should be thankful that such characters exist and have endured this ordeal. It is a necessary and important distillation of where we still are as a nation - powerfully principled yet terribly flawed. The film is one-sided, as it should be (innocent until proven guilty), and it is deeply moving.

To classify this film as a "northern liberal's wet dream" (as one online reviewer has unfairly done) is to engage the cynicism which habitually complicates and frustrates communication of basic ideas; it smacks of neo-Hollywood. The undergraduate writer's urge to dilute good with poison and draw virtue from evil is not always evidence of genuine profundity. More often than not, it's simply cloudy and ill-defined values.

I just saw the movie, through Netflix. I was intrigued by the way the movie was described, but in the end, it was better. I was moved in many different directions while watching this movie. I was filled with hurt, hate, angry, bitterness,pain and finally relief. To look at the young man accused, would break your heart, and convince you that they had the wrong person. The smugness of the police, makes you cring, because just as the Rodney King Beating brought to light, the brutality of the police, this movie brings forth the total lack of moral fiber in these police. And the fact that they beat this boy, and got away with it, only infuriates you more.

But, I have to tell you, I fell in love with the attorney, Mc Guinness. One of my favorite lines, when he was telling us what an a**hole on of the cops was... The cop told him, to go on, keep sucking on that cancer stick. Mc Guinness told the cop... 'I always have a cigarette before sex...' I was letting him know I was going to screw him"

I have a new respect for some of the law in this country.