User reviews

What a shock when I saw how few reviews this got. My god, I wasn't even planning on doing any effort in writing one, but this drew me over the line.

I'm not a citizen of the USA, but as a European born in the '90's it's hard to not have heard about O.J. Simpson. But that does not mean I knew the full story. Occasionally I read something about it, but I never got the whole history. This show gave me that opportunity. And boy, what a ride it was.

There are few shows where the creators do so many things right. But there are two things in particular that stood out from all those other shows. The first one is the acting. John Travolta, when he comes in, he draws you right in to the show. This is easily his best acting role in his recent career. The narcissism, arrogance,... Just for his acting performance it's worth to watch this show. But also the other lead characters are amazing. I'm just not sure if I found Cuba Gooding Jr. the right O.J. Simpson. Perhaps not completely. Some things just didn't feel quite right with his performance. In the beginning I found his acting quite spot on. But during the trial that changed in my opinion. I cannot quite finger point exactly what it was. Just an offish feeling I guess.

The second thing that is done brilliant is the pacing. You never feel bored. Every episode has his little what-the-f**k moment. The way they mixed original footage with the footage of the show. It's done so well, as if you are back in 1995.

Why not a 10? I just completely missed the story of the family of the victims. I get it though... If you make this kind of show, you want to make a point. And you can't focus on everything. The story writers chose to concentrate on the influence of the media combined with the frustration of the Afro-American community. Which lead to a completely irrational outcome in this case, lead by emotions of a hurt community. Sad.

Excellent series. One of the best, and most accurate, dramatizations of real events I've ever seen.

I was 20 years old when the real trial was happening, and like the rest of the world I was glued to my TV screen for the whole event. So when I started watching this dramatization, I was immediately transported back to that time.

As I watched the series through (for the first time), I was so blown away by its historical accuracy that I decided to simultaneously re-watch the corresponding real archive footage on Youtube after each episode, and could find no fault with the dramatized version.

I've just finished re-watching this series again, after a long gap, without additional archive viewing, and it surprised me how much my mind has inadvertently merged the real events with the dramatized ones, to the point that I can no longer reliably separate the two. That, for me, demonstrates how successful the filmmakers were in their recreations.

The only thing that lets the dramatized version down is the casting of Cuba Gooding Jr, which despite an unsurprisingly mesmerising performance, is nevertheless unconvincing due to the total lack of any resemblance to the real OJ. But that is a minor gripe in an otherwise exceptional drama series. From start to finish this was a gripping and utterly rewarding show.

If I have to describe this series in one line, I would say, "A series worth your time". Never during the entire series will you feel the need to move an inch in your seat. The makers of the show have stuck to the facts and presented it in an ensemble of plot twists.

One thing which I found very interesting during the entire series was that I was constantly switching sides; often sympathizing with the prosecutors and often sympathizing with the defendants (read court drama).

Towards the end of the show you find it difficult to understand who the protagonists and who the antagonists are. And I believe that is what makes a series worth watching, isn't it?

Wow, Wow this was simply perfection. Everyone or almost everyone knows the story of O.J...but not like this. It goes behind the scenes of each character and shows their raw emotion. Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark was fantastic, Courtney B. Vance as Johnny Cochran was riveting and Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden was perfection. John Travolta, David Schwimmer, and Cuba Gooding Jr were all excellent as well. The acting is what makes the story. The subject matter is disturbing, the brutal deaths of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman are tragic and this does not make a mockery of their deaths.

This documentary was outstanding! The direction , the attention to detail was flawless. All the characters that played in this role were not only similar in physique to the real people but in posture and energy as well. The only thing that set me off a bit was the actor who played O.J Simpson, he wasn't charming enough and after seeing the real footage his reflexes weren't same as O.J and seeing him made it look like I was watching a documentary elsewise I would have drowned in the spell of this amazing piece of history.

Story is good, although we all know the outcome, but as courtcase dramas go this really was lame and pedestrian.

They tried to portray the 90's but overdid it. The scenes, plot line and acting was reminiscent of a 1980s " Columbo" or "Murder she wrote" court case , it even had two of the old actors from those old favourites. :( Nathan Lane and Bruce Greenwood).

Cuba gooding Jr. looks nothing like OJ Simpson and was a total miscast. John travolta plays a fantastically mesmerising role as Shapiro , if somewhat overly comical. The actress playing the prosecuting attorney is just cringeworthy & as annoying as her perm. ! Not even sure if the backstory on her was true or made up but I didn't really care about her.

Its good entertainment and worth a watch but they really could have done so much better. (It's not a patch on their other production: "the killing of Gianni Versace". Which is on a whole other level.

It's excellent entertainment that sadly trivializes the real-life victims. But if you can get past that reality then you can appreciate the show for what it is. I had to deduct a point from my rating because the show outright lies at times for dramatic effect, but it doesn't diminish its entertainment value. Other than OJ himself, all characters were portrayed well, and the series did a great job of removing the more tedious parts of the real life trial.

It drags on, there are surprises now and then, but with crisp editing, the series could have been shortened by a couple of hours.

Just wound me right up. It's like he had laryngitis whilst filming this. When he raised his voice it was like nails down a chalkboard. Also the subject matter is totally annoying as we all know he got away with it. Sarah Paulson fab as usual along with Micheal Jamal warner (Pleasant blast from the past)

The People v. O.J. Simpson is a docudrama about one of the most publicized murder cases of the 20th century. The O.J. case itself offered no ground-breaking change or in the American legal system, such as Gideon v Wainwright (1966) in which the court ruled that a defendant deserved professional representation irrelevant of the crime, regardless of the defendant's ability to pay for representation. The public fascination of the O.J. Simpson and its exposure of racial tensions was more closely aligned with the Charles Lindbergh Kidnapping case of the 1930's whose conviction of a German immigrant also exposed ethnic distrust.

The film stars Cuba Gooding as O.J. Simpson, and includes an outstanding supporting cast: John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, Courtney B. Vance as Johnny Cochran, Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, and Bruce Greenwood as Gil Garcetti. The film brings us into the behind-the-scenes drama of this compelling episode in American legal theater. The film does an outstanding job of giving us, the audience, the juxtaposition between what was given to the American public and how the main players decided the material best to present to the press, the jury and the public at large. The film begins with footage from the Rodney King case and the ensuing race riots which erupted in Los Angels in the wake of the acquittal of law enforcement.

The main narrative begins with the violent barking of a dog which attracts the attention of some late-night joggers in an upscale area of Los Angeles, Brentwood. The dogs barking leads to the discovery of two dead bodies laying in the outside porch of a house on Bundy Drive. They were identified as Nicole Brown Simpson, the owner of the house, and another friend, Ronald Goldman. Detectives arrived to the scene and were eventually informed that Nicole was the ex-wife of American Football and film actor O.J. Simpson (Gooding), nicknamed "The Juice". Simpson was in Chicago but then took a red-eye flight back to Los Angeles to learn more about the death of his ex-wife.

Relatively quickly, a case is building against Simpson. His immediate friends and legal counsels, Robert Kardashian (Schwimmer) and Robert Shapiro (Travolta), begin to suspect that Los Angeles is planning to arrest and charge Simpson for the murders. They become the first of Simpson's legal "dream team" as it came to be called. On another front, we learn of an African-American attorney name of Johnny Cochran who had made a reputation for representing African-Americans against legal injustices. Cochran had also represented celebrities, notably Michael Jackson.

Cochran begins commenting on the O.J. Simpson case publicly, particularly on shows like "Larry King Live". Eventually, Cochran joins the team. The team at first is an odd mix of Kardashian, Shapiro and other white lawyers and assistants, and Cochran and his African-American lawyers and associates. The two sides seem at odds, and questions arise regarding who will represent Simpson as lead counsel. Simpson opts for Cochran to the dismay of the other white lawyers.

Down in Los Angeles, Marcia Clark (Paulson) is putting together their case against Simpson which appears to be iron-clad. She wants to be lead prosecutor and she polls some African-American women and the results suggest that a white prosecutor could win their sympathy against an alleged wife-beater. However, Gil Garcetti (Greenwood) feels the prosecution looks too "white". The trial will be held in downtown Los Angeles, and there would undoubtedly be African-American jurors. They find a solution: they ask Christopher Darden (Brown) to join the prosecution. The court appoints Judge Lance Ito to hear the case, a Japanese-American who, some speculate, was assigned because he was neither white nor black.

The trial begins, but something is not right with Mark Fuhrman (Steven Pasquale). He is brought into the trial because of a bloody glove he claims to have found on the O.J. Simpson property the night of the murders. However, through some investigative work, it is learned that Fuhrman is a racist and some new evidence emerges which proves it without a shadow of a doubt.

Definitely a compelling series from beginning to end. So why 9 stars out of 10? There is one miscast: Cuba Gooding as O.J. Simpson. I will preface this to say I am great admirer of Gooding who has had some terrific performances. However, he was not a good choice for O.J. Simpson. I think the problem is that Gooding, unlike O.J. has a very strong personality and a high-pitched tenor voice. O.J. has a softer but resonant baritone voice and in interviews he always came off as very calm and "comfortable" in his own "skin". Not that the O.J. behind the scenes couldn't be fiery, but Gooding is almost too fiery, with a lot of whining and nervous angst which happens all the way through the film. Sometimes I found Gooding a bit over-the-top.

Sadly, Gooding is just not a terribly convincing O.J. I felt like I kept seeing the actor rather than one of the biggest sports and media stars of all-time, and he comes off like he's still playing Rod Tidwell from "Jerry Maguire". Although they are both African-Americans, they really couldn't even pass as brothers, not even cousins. For one thing, Simpson would dwarf Gooding, and the former football star's head is rather ovular and nearly perfectly symmetrical while Gooding's is far more round and a little bit asymmetrical (not that one is better than the other). The issue is that we've seen O.J. so much, especially on television during the trial, that using an actor who physically bears almost no resemblance to the character he's playing can upset the production value. Certainly an A-, but not an A because of the miscast. Even Forest Whitaker would probably have been much closer to Simpson than Gooding. I saw too much of Gooding and not enough of Simpson.

Fantastic docu series about People vs O J Simpson. Performance of actors was top notch in the series. A must watch from Netflix.

The performances of this docudrama were fantastic!!! Loved Travolta - his characterization was so unique and memorable. This one will have you on the edge of your seat, whether you remember the OJ verdict or not.

Such an amazing portrayal of this real life major event. The acting by Travolta and Gooding Jr were so compelling as were others. You forget in some ways it's based on real events and get immersed in the drama! Do watch!!

1.The actor playing O.J. doesn't have to look like him of course but should be attractive looking. Gooding is a fine actor but shouldn't have been cast as Simpson. 2.Almost every time John Travolta appears the scene stops cold because of his bizarre looks and equally strange body language. It's as if Travolta was imagining he was in a Grand Guignol movie playing Bob Shapiro as a Madame Tussaud wax figure. Grotesque!

The main thing that the show does exceptionally well is that it gives all of its main characters the right amount of focus in the story. The show could of simply been all about OJ Simpson and neglected the stories of the lawyers representing him or even the jury but the show delves into these stories and its these that offer some of the emotional and memorable moments of the series. The story also chooses to focus not only on the trial of Simpson but also on the racial feelings surrounding the case as well as the racial climate that the USA was experiencing. There is never a dull moment in the show as the various twists and turns in the plot keep you watching. The soundtrack of the show perfectly captures the time period and the use of news footage from the time immerses viewers successfully. This is a show that needs to be seen not only for the story and performances but also because it shows how TV can be like film without the visual spectacle that shows like Game of Thrones offer. It's just Great.

Who doesn't like a good court drama? Everyone played their parts well. But I agree Gooding Jr was not right for the part -- too small, not very attractive, wrong vocal tonality. The producers obviously spent a lot more thought on the other characters. My complaint is that this series does the same thing the media has done since the trial ended: insinuating that the jury got it wrong and that the 'dream team' got him off because of grand-standing. That's just not true. They used what was right in front of them and it was hard data, not made up. Darden and Clark were out of their league but they didn't have a case. They made rookie mistakes rushing to prosecute without checking their evidence and witnesses. This would have never gone to trial if they had just made sure they had all their ducks in a row . And then they toyed with the jury trying to get all the blacks out when they realized they had no other way to win! The fact is even today there is no evidence that OJ committed these murders. He was talked into putting his name on a book that someone else wrote just for the money. It's a fake book describing a what-if scenario. No one believed it to the point that only the Goldman's had the audacity to publish it pretending that it was an actual confession. In an interview about the fake confession, OJ makes up various what-ifs, none of which coincide with the fake confession in the book. All these people that want OJ to so badly be guilty are just trying to cover up what Cochran uncovered. That's the big take-away from this trial. I believe the jury had more than reasonable doubt. There's something about powerful black men that American law enforcement and media want to take down. The one's they can't shoot of suffocate, they try to imprison. Let's not forget what was learned in this trial.

If you can get past really poor acting, this might be worth the watch just because of the story. I could NOT handle how bad Cuba Good Jr's acting is... wow... It's like hes trying to be Tracy Jordon in 30 Rock! But it's not just him. This is poorly acted by most. I blame the director, why aren't you seeing this, and reshooting?

Do yourself a favour, skip this show!