Unknown White Male

I agree that it isn't a very rigorous documentary and it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. I have known Doug Bruce casually for about a year and a half. He takes his dogs to the same dog run I frequent. I only found out about the amnesia after the movie was released, and he didn't share anything about the amnesia to anyone else at the run. He would talk about photography, his dogs, just normal stuff. Usually he keeps to himself. He is always very sweet and polite, and does have a certain childlike enthusiasm that is very endearing. Now that the movie is out, he will talk about it a little but obviously feels uncomfortable revealing it to those he doesn't know. I also know a woman who is good friends with Doug's previous girlfriend of eight years who also appears in the film. The ex-girlfriend definitely believes him, as do most if not all of those who knew him well before the amnesia, including his family. The Washington Post just wrote a story which strongly doubted the veracity of Doug's story and his condition. There seems to be a growing, somewhat mean-spirited backlash against Doug. I guess the story just seems too good to be true. People seem to resent the fact that Doug has good looks, money and a lovely girlfriend. But does that mean he's faking amnesia? I like Doug and can't imagine he would go to such extraordinary lengths, especially ones that would distress his family and friends, by inventing such an incredulous story. It just doesn't make sense.

Having my PhD in Neuropsychology, i is very apparent from the film that this is not a documentary but in fact a fictional story. The symptoms displayed by the character show many things that prove this is fake. It is also, suspiciously likely that the things he does are so "novel" almost as if he woke up and CHOSE to start a new life. Fake it til you Make it. This Is A Fake The Worst part is that his best friend just happens to be a filmmaker and He willingly chooses to pick up a camera immediately after he is "struck" with amnesia. Also, This man chooses to talk about his "condition" as though he is a celebrity... Good Job Fakers It is Pathetic really Nice job with this fake.

A Seattle International Film Festival 2005 entry

Wednesday February 8, 7:00pm The Harvard Exit

On Thursday morning, July 3rd 2003 an Englishman stepped off a subway car in Coney Island New York. Doug Bruce had no memory of who he was before that moment. With nowhere to go he turned to the police. Gradually, with the help of his doctors who diagnosed a rare "fugue state" amnesia, Doug reconnected the threads of his identity and within a few days embarked on a bizarre video diary of his own discovery, ala David Holzman. As he was reintroduced to his family and friends Doug agreed to document his story with an old mate, filmmaker Rupert Murray. "Unknown White Male" plays out as a fairly conventional if well crafted documentary. Murray does demonstrate a talent for striking visual montage, but nothing substantial happens and Doug Bruce never regains his memory. While a hospital video made early on seems to show a man in genuine distress, the sequence of events read like Swiss cheese and are ample fuel for skeptics in a post James Frey,"A Million Little Pieces" world.

The subject matter is intriguing; for no apparent reason, a man loses his memory. He doesn't know his name, or friends or family, and has to rebuild his life.

Unfortunately, his friend, the filmmaker, takes too much artistic license in trying to create mood. Between too many shaky camera sequences and gratuitous b-roll, it loses the audience quickly. It reminded me of WILD BLUE YONDER which spent too much time with atmosphere and not enough time with content.

It's worth a view to be a voyeur, and watch a man rebuild his life, and decide on what to embrace from his past, and how to continue into the future.

I saw this film last night and was very disappointed with it. It is quite apparent that the filmmakers have no training in how to construct an interesting story. This film is about as interesting as watching someone's home movies. The interviews with Doug, his family and friends make no attempt to delve into the startling revelation that Doug has completely lost all sense of his past. They all might as well be talking about what Doug plans to do after graduating from art school rather than talk about how Doug will handle "re-starting" his existence at age 37. There seem to be some small clues in the film that may explain how poorly it was put together. Doug spends little time back in Europe with his former friends and family and they don't seem to make the journey to visit him either (except for the filmmaker). Doug himself mentions that his British mates seem to have deep feelings for him but they seem concealed by a typical British avoidance of such emotion.

That is exactly how this film feels (or doesn't feel). There is almost no emotional connection to the film or the subjects (even Doug). You don't really even walk away with a "There but for the grace of God go I" empathy towards Doug. The most riveting emotional notes are in the first 10 minutes as Doug recalls the first hours of his amnesia and his complete feeling of being lost and real terror about not even knowing who he might be able to call to come pick him up from the hospital. After that, it is if the film has been sterilized of all emotional "infection". Even as a factual depiction of this extreme form of amnesia it falls very short of being informative or interesting.

Without apologizing for the filmmakers, I can understand how they would not want to use this opportunity to manipulate or exploit Doug's situation or his condition by forcing some kind of confrontation with Doug's past. But the film goers don't get any real kind of bridge with Doug's past either (or his present for that matter). Without that, you can't really move yourself emotionally into either wanting Doug to regain his memory or rooting for him to carry on with a new existence that is different and separate from his past. It is almost as if even his old friends and family didn't really know him all that well so there wasn't much of Doug for them to lose.

This movie should have some kind of theme to it. Loss...renewal...exploration...frustration...something...anything! And the filmmaker would have been better served to get some professional help with the subject and maybe take more time with the project to see if a more interesting story develops.