American Hangman - Colpevole o innocente

349. American Hangman. A Canadian film, shot in Missouri. It begins with two guys waking up in a basement after being kidnapped. One of them comes to the conclusion that they are in a situation similar to 'that movie with the hacksaw' and that it was 'crap', you may recognize this actor from the film Jigsaw, and unfortunately for his character, Ron, its kinda true... The other guy, played by Don Sutherland, is Judge Straight, a title, not like Judge Reinhold. :) And finally, the kidnapper. His name is Henry and he has an ax to grind with the judicial system, and he's a wiz with that whole internet thing the kids are talking about these days, so he decides to hold Judge Straight accountable for a case he presided over in which a man was convicted and put to death for the kidnapping and murder of a 14 year old girl, a case Henry feels the man was wrongly convicted, and broadcast it on the internet and the public gets to vote guilty or not guilty. Is there a twist, of course there is! And its a pretty sweet one, tho perhaps predictable. Its not going to win any awards for best acting, Vincent Kartheiser was cool as Henry, and I was satisfied with its conclusion. A film that also makes you say, well, he has a point... And poor Ron, he was just there as a prop to prove a point, oh well.

Not a bad movie, my guess is they spent most of the budget on Donald Sutherland, but money well spent. Others talk about how this movie reflects on the criminal justice system, and it does, but I think it does so just as well on court of public opinion, the media, and social media. It does beg the question of how anyone does get a fair trial in today's 24 hour news cycle and viral social media.

I always see someone saying they've seen films like this before...I have not. It kept my attention all the way through, and the only reason I did not give it a 10 was because the direction, and editing had a B movie feel to it.

All of the actors did well except for a few of the extras but again I think that was more direction, and camera work. They were trying to keep everything at a streaming level which really did not work well.

Vincent Kartheiser, and Paul Braunstein did very well, Donald Sutherland. what can you say he's a pro. The writing was very good but the plot was right on the nose. I would watch again.

Sutherland's appearance as the only A-lister is surprising but his performance is solid as always, while the rest of the cast is good considering they are virtual unknowns. The story is fairly unique and full of potential even if the execution is a bit silly. It brings up valid concerns about the justice system and social media, although for me it's a little too preachy. Verdict: Worth watching as long as expectations are kept fairly low.

Well , this is a film that tells the story of how random life can be and what the consequences may be of living, and who are the best to judge that , you, me , the jury,the people or simply the judge.....law isnt my strongest part ,and american law are far to complex to understand under these circumstances, coup d'etat or marshal laws and pure anarchi are some clues to this film

donald sutherland has grown old for sure, but he still delivers, and makes this film very suspensfilled and keeps you on the edge of the chair almost till the end. its a new angle of involving social media as a max factor in the movie world, and passes through very well, though the truth-factor are questionable.

to summarize,its yet another example of the power of going viral on social media. recomendable it is.