O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose

O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose (1974)

*** (out of 4)

In between THE CRAZIES and MARTIN, director George A Romero and producer Richard Rubenstein made this documentary, which shows what a special player O.J. Simpson was in college as well as in the NFL.

Obviously, when you watch this documentary today you can't help but think of what happened to Simpson after this was made. Obviously this film just covers him up until 1972 as we get his football career as well as some brief bits of information about him moving into movies. There's even a mention of THE KLANSMAN that he made.

One really can't help but think of what happened after these events but at the same time, for the most part, this was a pretty good documentary. I'd argue that its 47-minute running time drags at times but there's still a lot of interesting information to be had here. The film has O.J. speaking throughout so we get to hear his thoughts on his career as well as what else he wants to do in life. There are some moments of his first wife speaking as well as clips of O.J. and his son playing.

If you're looking for something ground-breaking then you're not going to get it here but it is fascinating seeing how Simpson was looked out during this period. There are interviews with several of his coaches and team mates as well as A.C. Cowlings and Howard Cosell. Fans of Romero won't find any of his trade mark stuff here as this was pretty much just a job.

There's nothing precisely to rave about OJ Simpson: Juice on the Loose documentary, but maybe one might think there's more than meets the eye. It's really a basic sort of sports-star profile doc, typical of the era (70's) and practically all adulatory information regarding Simpson's unquestionable skills as a Heisman trophy winning football player. Maybe one puts the the whole trial years back into perspective and expects there to be more of an expose; that it's directed by legendary George A. Romero might also spark interest. As a Romero fan alone I was wondering what he was doing directing this in-between his ultra low-budget horror films of the time. I did see some of his handiwork in the film, which made it worthwhile, but it is also a little boring for the not-too-avid football or Simpson fan.

The start of the documentary is actually a little exciting; the style of montage that happens, and then sparks up here and there, is reminiscent of some of the montage and editing that gives Romero's living-dead pictures its spark. However, this is only in brief shots, as for the most part Romero does it the professional way, leaving not too much room for artistic interpretation (not that I was expecting F for Fake or something). Simpson is an interesting subject, and when it comes time to interview his family- and longtime friend (and later 'driver') A.C. Cowlings- it isn't without something worth to see, if only for nostalgia of a certain kind. But aside from (an all-too brief) appearance by Howard Cosell, the footage on the football stuff is fairly limited. What makes it work is that there is a certain craftsmanship Romero is trying to get with the questions and cut-aways and so forth; I got the impression that Romero might be more of a documentary filmmaker than his reputation makes him out to be (then again, it is really apparent in his early work from the 60's and 70's).

OJ is now an icon, mostly due to other 'reasons', and to see him in his prime and in total control of what he was doing is nice, but it doesn't amount to too much more than a by-the-numbers expose for television (hence even more limited). Reccomendable, of course, even to Romero fans. But don't seek it out thinking you'll spot anything remotely resembling foreshadowing to the events of the 90's.