Tread

This documentary, to me, is a mixed bag of content. Its basically a destructive revenge story. But what the makers don't focus or expand on , are the issues of Anger, Suicide, Loneliness, Mental Health, Corruptionion, Loss, Nepotism or Paranoia. Could have made a very good documentary an excellent documentary.

It's a bit of a slow burner, but the pay off is worth it. This would make a great fictional movie. Small town lives and small town mind lead big time problems.

I believe Marv 100%. I grew up in a small town of 1100 people and anyone who grew up in a similar town knows these good old boys clubs exist without a doubt. There are 3 or 4 familys in these small towns and if you cross them, they will have you excommunicated and isolated and do whatever they can to smear your name. Marv had an extreme reaction to such an experience for sure and it's terrible that he did so, but anyone trying to act like his story doesn't hold any water at all is fooling themselves. These people undoubtedly pushed him and now want to act like they were innocent little lambs in all of it. Not buying it.

Greetings again from the darkness. If not so tragic, this story might fit best in Ripley's Believe it or Not. What better description is there for a small town welder who builds an armored bulldozer, weaponizes it, and then takes it on a rampage of revenge, destroying the buildings, homes, and businesses of those he believe 'wronged' him? This actually happened in Granby, Colorado in 2004, and that welder's name was Marv Heemeyer.

Filmmaker Paul Solet begins the film with a recording of a 911 call and news clips of the actual events of June 4, 2004. Solet then proceeds to lay out the backstory of Heemeyer, and how things escalated to the point where destruction and suicide seemed like the only logical step to him. Solet cleverly utilizes Heemeyer's own self-recording (via audio cassette) as a framing structure for the film. Heemeyer's voice tells us what his plan was, and why he had reached this level of desperation.

Interviews are key, and we hear from law enforcement officers who were on the scene that day, Heemeyer's ex-girlfriend Trisha MacDonald, his best friend, a younger man from his snowmobile club, brothers from a family that had supposedly targeted Marv, and a newspaper reporter, Patrick Brower, who also wrote a book on Heemeyer's rampage. Actual news clips and reenactments are used to show us what those being interviewed tell. In this case, it's an effective approach.

It's particularly interesting to hear that Marv was mostly a likable guy who just bumped up against local town and county politics a couple of times. Marv was not part of the 'good old boys club' and admits to needing to "teach a lesson" to those he perceived has gone out of the way to make life difficult for him. His bulldozer was a way for him to dole out the justice that was otherwise going unserved.

This is a story of revenge told in a somewhat sympathetic manner towards Marv Heemeyer, a man who considered himself "an American Patriot." The audio tape is clearly a confession of what he planned (and later carried out), and it was clear he knew this was a suicide mission. Listening to his rants, we assume some form of mental illness was involved, and his best friend describes him as a man who 'spent too much time alone."

The video clips of the carnage, and of the many law enforcement officials on the scene - all of whom were helpless to stop the bulldozer - are captivating and difficult to watch. Fortunately, after the fact, we know that no one died that day other than the man who was responsible. Marv, a man of "righteous anger", had his day of serving justice and rare 'Bulldozer Rampage' headline knocked off the front page one day later by a much bigger story.

Just like the Michael Douglas movie "Falling Down", this tragic documentary presents the viewer with an average guy who gets kicked repeatedly and eventually has enough.

I don't think they did a very good job in this documentary exploring the aspect of what, if any, actual corruption was involved in the town's actions against Marv, which is an unfortunate omission. They just interviewed a few of them and we should take it on faith that these people are on the up and up, apparently. Anyone with a cynical eye towards our dear leaders know better than that.

One could only wonder what the narrative would be like in 2020 with rampant protests across the US. Would Marv be viewed as a "peaceful" protester, "peacefully" destroying a city while "peacefully" shooting at cops and "peacefully" trying to murder people he disagrees with? Is he an anti-hero in today's anti-cop/anti-government context?

Had the documentary been produced in the midst of today's (summer of 2020) news cycle, maybe they would have spun it different? Makes you think.

I don't usually like to watch documentaries but this one caught my attention because it was a kind of revenge thing. It was a well-written and a well-thought out 'film' and it is worth watching. What a pity that Reagan died the following day!