Thursday, December 27, 2012

West of Memphis





Sometimes you've just got to be first.

The West Memphis Three documentary "West of Memphis" might make a decent introduction to the case for someone who knows nothing about it, but for those of us who've seen the three excellent "Paradise Lost" documentaries, the effect is a bit like reading last year's newspaper. Director Amy Berg pads her film to an overindulgent 150 minutes with not particularly enlightening interviews with celebrities who joined the fight for the boys' freedom, including Peter Jackson, Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines, and Henry Rollins. Despite her insider access to Damien Echols and his wife Lorri, among others, her film needs tightening up and a stronger sense of differentiation - what matters and what doesn't among the myriad pieces of evidence she rehashes.

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