The Investigation

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Throughout 1981,in Fraser Valley,British Columbia,a man went on the loose luring vulnerable young people into his car,making false promises of getting them jobs in a construction site,plying them with alcohol and drugs,then abusing and killing them.This film follows the investigation into the killings starting with a tip-off from small town cop Kettles (Lochlyn Monroe) onto a state-wide investigation by Agent Forsythe (Nicholas Lea) that lead to the capture and conviction of the killer and the bungling incompetence and red-tape that marred it throughout.

The Investigation certainly makes for an interesting real-life story,but that's just how it feels:real life.It certainly doesn't succeed much in the way of fun.

As for the film's actual quality in itself,it benefits chiefly from a nice soundtrack (which,when you consider the many other ways it could have succeeded,isn't much to say!)The central protagonist (the killer) is an interesting character,but there's a disappointing lack of depth invested in him,although it is neat how his face is always covered up until the end.On the other fronts,Munro has a whiny lead presence that's a little annoying and he doesn't let rip and come out of his shell until right at the very end.Lea is a bit more dynamic and commanding,so it's disappointing that he doesn't come into the proceedings until a bit later on in the film.

The film's very obviously a video production.Some might say it's home's more at Channel 5 than BBC 1,but,there you go...

It isn't a film to veg out in front of,it's one of those ones where you have to use your brain and pay close attention to everything that is being said and inferred.It's a true film,very real,very human,but,unfortunately,that doesn't always make it very much fun.***

This Canadian TVM is based on a real life case where the mounties couldn`t get their man due to foul ups and red tape and this led to a child rapist and murderer to carry on with his obscene crimes . This is a TVM with a lot of potential but the script and performances aren`t as well developed as they should have been . Despite these flaws the one major problem that did jump out of the screen and grab me by the throat was the direction by Anne Wheeler which is totally inconsistent . Sometimes you feel you`re watching a fly on the wall documentary , sometimes you feel you`re watching a stage play , but worst of all sometimes you feel you`re watching a MTV trailer.

Like I said this had potential but everyone in general and the director in particular had to go and ruin it

Exposes the weakness of legal practice, enforcement and prosecution. What is wrong with everyone else but the 2 main officers - the blond RCMP, and the detective with the mustache. Everyone else dosent care there are active missing kids and some now starting to show up dead. Wow, I mean I know you get descencetized in a job like that but come on! These homicides all could have been prevented by the investigators if they wernt blocked by their own agencies to do the work they WANTED to do. They were chest bumped and red taped every time an obvious correlation to this man was suggested by one of them. Its like the more they showed something was supsicious with this man the less everyone else communicated with them. Thats so absolutely backwards. Some of the higher up just seemed jealous of the young officers ability to see connections to the suspect and scoff at the "young rookie transfer who will just have to learn you cant just get special OPs at the snap of your finger, sometime you just wont get it at all". Im sorry but WTF??? Pride , egos, smugness, incompitence, even seemed like competition for some of then all got in the way and god rest these victims, all those involved (except for the 2) should be ashamed of themselves. That is a horrible display if character and quite frankly sickning thar its everyone acting like that (except the 2). Should have just "lay them out and measure" at the beginning and then would have saved some of those poor kids. Imagine how hard it is for the victims family. Imagine how scared those kids were and how terrifying it would be to have this torture you and painfully kill you. I wonder if any of the people worried about their own kids when they gave the smart officers the run around. Dosent seem so. When the one guy from the diffrent investigating agency came in and told mustache detective snarkily - "what are you doing with 'joint forces', you need to get special OP" , - um ya exactly what he has been trying to get since day one and got road block after roadblock from basically all law enforcements available to help just said no and passed the buck, and then this guys has the audacity to say on his way out - " oh yea and by the way we got a huge clue and we have a MEETING ARRANGED with the accused".....mustache detective, is like um what? Nobody tells me ? When ist this meeting?.....when the other officer said "2 hours", I swear I threw my OJ i was drinking right into his face on the TV. Its unbelievable. Its still like this in Canada, how scary it is to be a victim here. " Hookers cant be victims"?, "one time a victim and 2nd time a volunteer"? The whole system needs an overhaul but whos gonna do it when each office has only 5 % of the staff are motivated and driven to be collaborative and come together to create solutions when current practices are obviously broken or just straight up useless. Shame on the law enforment agencies of canada that "ill file that request tomorrow" , or " we cant budget for that" is more important than saving a life. Exposing this problem is not negative, its the only path to a positve future in this whole system. Make more movies that show this, its a powerful form of exposure, and maybe even a way to curb this problem.

Clifford Robert Olson is probably Canad's most notorious serial killer. He preyed on children (both boys and girls) in the lower mainland of British Columbia in the early 1980's - raping them before killing them. Ultimately he was found guilty of 11 killings after striking a deal with Crown prosecutors to lead them to the bodies in exchange for a payment of $100000 to his wife. As the title implies, this made for TV Canadian movie isn't interested in Olson's crimes as much as it looks at the police work involved in finding him. The case was chaotic. Crown prosecutors had been repeatedly unwilling to proceed against Olson for earlier crimes because of a lack of solid evidence, making the police nervous about arresting him too early. The case was also was a mass of conflicting jurisdictions. Either the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing, or the different jurisdictions were jealously guarding their own turf. Olson was a suspect on the radar of several officers and RCMP detachments, but with only a couple of exceptions (who couldn't get themselves listened to) no one seemed to treat him as the most serious suspect, the end result being that he was left to commit murders even while he was actively being considered as a possible suspect. The various departments and agencies were also dealing with being short staffed. There was also disbelief expressed at the fact that he was being pointed to as being responsible for raping both girls and boys, and there was confusion just from the fact that serial killer investigations in Canada are fairly rare things. The end result of it all is that had Olson been arrested sooner some killings might have been prevented - a point made by Officer Kettles (Lochlyn Munro) at the movie's end.

The portrayal of Olson was well done. Although he was portrayed picking up several teenagers, we never really got a good look at him until the movie's end, making him seem more unsettling; an object of fear and mystery. The other performances were decent enough

It's not an exciting movie. It doesn't portray any of Olson's actual crimes. It focuses exclusively on how the police handled the case. To say the least, it was not the RCMP's finest hour, although in the end I guess you'd have to say that they did, indeed, get their man. (6/10)

A compelling production. "The Investigation" showed how unprepared Canada and the R.C.M.P. were to handle a serial killer and rapist. True to their motto, the Mounties did get their man. Nicholas Lea is brilliant as always and Lochlyn Munro plays Corporal Darryll Kettles brilliantly. 10/10, here's hoping we see more of this great Canadian,home grown specials.