Conn: la grande escroquerie

The Big Conn is the latest docu-series on AppleTV+ and judging by the trailer, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was the next Tiger King. The story is equal parts heartbreaking and crazy, while the team in charge of this - who also produced McMillions - throw everything into this to make an aesthetically slick and bombastic documentary. Unfortunately, despite only being 4 episodes long. The first episode in particular, perfectly exemplifies the issues that ripple through this. It takes 7 and a half minutes before we even begin the story, with nothing but hype and a massive introduction to pad out the opening. We're also graced with a 40 second establishing shot before we get our first interview with a local in Kentucky. These moments are small but they add up to a bloated docu-series that I can't help but feel could have been more tightly edited to produce a much smoother 2 or 3 episode series. Just to play devil's advocate on my own point though, all four episodes are split into different chapters that tackle a slightly different part of this case that lead Conn being brought to justice. The general premise here revolves around a charismatic lawyer called Eric C. Conn. Living the high life in eastern Kentucky and becoming something of a celebrity in the community, two whistleblowers called Jennifer and Sarah, discover that Eric is actually defrauding the US government through the Social Security System. In fact, he actually managed to obtain an eye-watering sum of half a billion dollars. Conn then orders two Pepsis, returns to his car and find a money pouch he earlier obtained has gone missing. Did we need that 5 minute segment? Did I need to include this big, excruciating statement in this review to emphasize the point? No and no. The trouble is, The Big Conn does it anyway to try and make the story crazier. The irony is, these moments of incredulous developments (minus the pouch disappearing) have the opposite effect. The Big Conn is a documentary series that's a bit too big to fill the boots of other, more prolific docu-series. It's certainly a crazy story and full of twists and turns, but the masterful editing of the trailer gives the impressive that this is going to be a fast-paced, lively romp. It's not.

In my humble opinion, Mason Tackett is the star of this production. His Rap composition was very funny, as is he, and spot on honest and insightful. As for abuse of SSDI, I witnessed this firsthand, from a con artist i had the misfortune of knowing for a short time. This criminal milked the system, both he and his mother "payee" used the SSDI money for gambling and drugs/alcohol. I reported him. The last thing i heard of him was from his probation officer that the con artist was "doctor shopping" after his benefits were stopped as a result ofmy report.

Some have said this documentary could have been done in three episodes instead of four, but honestly there wasn't any part of it that I felt should've been left out.

I live in Western Kentucky, and I don't recall hearing about this before. (I'm not a news watcher. I like facts, and the news is not all facts.). I was fascinated throughout the entire series. I put the show on just to have something on while I was doing other things on my phone, but I ended up being engrossed with it.

There are many players in this documentary. Conn, himself, is a bit complicated. I felt bad for him in some ways. I do think this was another player's idea to begin with as Conn said (I don't want to give too many details). The whistleblowers had their work cut out for them, and they didn't give up. There were so many people with fault to some degree in this whole mess, whether it was money related, harassment, or turning a blind eye. To be honest, the Social Security Administration chose an abhorrent "resolution". I'd like to see them deal with anything close to what they've done to innocent people. (Yes, some were frauds, but two are still fighting that absolutely should have already been back on their benefits. The poor girl, I cannot see how in the world she's been denied.. EVER!)

The ending was definitely another twist.

I binged the entire series when I really should have been doing other things. It's that good.

Probably an interesting story but I just found it long and unbearable. I just can't get into documentaries that play irritating music tracks while people are talking! It's a documentary, let's hear what people have to say! Can't recommend this one... And please stop with the ridiculous muzak tracks while people are telling their story!

Unexpected twists and turns - quite unbelievable how the story played out and how crooked the SSA system is. Separately, we all need more Mason Tucketts in our lives.