Casting JonBenet

Fascinating performances by Colorado local actors. Who would have thought this state garnered so much talent. I was memorized by personal stories told by Hack Hyland, Suzanne Yazzi, Kit Thompson and Ronda Belser. This film is less to do with JonBenet and more to do with human emotions.

This is not a documentary about the JonBenét Ramsey case. This is a film about the community surrounding (and yet still on the outside of) the JonBenét Ramsey case. It's about opinion and speculation and participation, and about how personal experience shapes opinion and vice versa. Ultimately I thought it was an interesting character study/art experiment. If you go into it thinking you'll get some juicy new updates on a tired murder mystery however, you're going to be disappointed. Keep an open mind.

An absolute ridiculous excuse for a documentary. All I got from this was....ugly people trying to gain something from this poor girl's murder. There was no need for this bizarre documentary to be made. I actually have a very hard time referring it to a documentary because it is so far from a documentary it's laughable. I'm disgusted in everyone that took part in making this, the fact that a 6 year old child was murder obviously didn't register with any of these money grabbing idiots. Shame on you Netflix for airing this !!!! Stick to the facts and not some money hungry wanna actors sharing their opinion. Get a real job !!!

Out of the recent trend of documentaries of actual films that portray real stories, which are not as confusing as they sound (like "Katie Plays Christine"), "Casting JonBenet" is the best. I think I should say that before this movie I had never heard of the JonBenet murder and subsequent case; maybe I've been living under a rock or something. I say this due to the fact that it may have enhanced my experience with this film, and that people who are not entering it blindly might not enjoy it as much. After I watched the film I went online to judge the reactions of people, and far and away most general audience members seemed to dismiss this film as garbage. Many people stated that it added no new information to the case or that it was boring. To those people I would say that they missed the point, as pretentious as it sounds. This was a seemingly world famous case, what new information could they provide? What makes movies like "The Thin Blue Line" or "The Jinx" so good is that they actual had some real impact on the world by adding evidence not previously seen. Other movies/miniseries, like "The Imposter" or "Making a Murderer" show us cases that we otherwise never would have heard of. This movie has neither of those luxuries, so instead it does something different. It films the people in the community that Jonbenet Ramsey lived in and tasks them with playing the parts of members of the Ramsey family. All the while, the camera crew is filming these people and gleaning their insight into what they think about the murder. Their opinions range from insightful to off-the- wall batsh*t insane (think movies like "Room 237), and I enjoyed every second of it. Parts of this movie had me and my friends rolling on the floor with laughter due to just how peculiar and funny these characters playing characters really were. Other moments, like the ending montage I wont spoil, had me sitting in silence completely engrossed at what was on screen. Being able to have moments like that within the film make this movie truly special, as well as the first amazing film of the year. My only issue with it is that it lulls at some points towards the final 3rd, but even then it is still a very watchable film. Don't let negative reviews online discourage you from watching this movie. Watch it for yourself and make your own mind up

I never review films on IMDb, but I had a particularly strong reaction to this one. It started out as an intriguing concept, and I was very impressed with the creative vision of the film, which seemed like it could add a new layer of commentary to a tired, old story...That impression lasted for about 10 minutes. After that, the film very quickly devolved into a one-note gimmick, which somehow managed to be disturbing, ghoulish and often boring at the same time. Ultimately, I was left with a hollow feeling of numbness about this murder, as well as the non-professional actors profiled. The film felt so craven in its blatant exploitation of the crime (as well as the interviewees). It was downright grotesque if you give more than a passing thought to the fact that it's all based upon a child's murder...one that has been examined ad nauseam over the course of the past 20 years. In the end this film felt like more of an exercise, or an experiment gone awry. It had no heart, or center. It was utterly empty.