Review of The Thin Blue Line (1988) by Dillinger P — 15 Jul 2015
Watching The Thin Blue Line, there is a element on anger and frustration that looms with the subject matter, this is a cerebral documentary, however its let down somewhat by its dated and primitive design that you cant help but find yourself clock checking, when you should be completely engrossed.
The Thin Blue Line is an Errol Morris film about Randall Adams, a man who Morris portrays as shit out of luck. One night when his car runs out of gas, he is picked up by a young teenager called David Harris, the couple go for a ride, drink some beer, go a catch a film and go their own ways.
However later that night a police officer is gunned down for no reason what so ever and soon Randall finds himself at the brunt of the law, thirsty for revenge. Both men however claim not to have done it, however it is through witness and connections we find out a pretty clear picture of what actually went on that night.
Its a great concept for a crime documentary and you genuinely want to get through to the end of it, however Morris makes a few errors along the way that make this film a choir at points to watch. The pacing is shocking, the film feels an hour longer than it actually is and that's down to 2 key things.
1 the film continually repeats itself and shows the same reconstructions over and over and over again, 2 the film doesnt bother telling you who anyone is, meaning that your listening to people talk and you really have to piece together what their saying and whose side their on, while working out if they have any weight behind them as a valid source of truth.
Its a shame really because, had this been cut down by around 20 minutes, tightened up and been a bit more concise with its information, this documentary would be an all time classic. Its a great story, the views of its contributors are all very chilling and in some cases disgustingly false, which adds a whole different layer of tension and intrigue surrounding the events of the night in question.
But ultimately its flat with far too much filler.
This review of The Thin Blue Line (1988) was written by Dillinger P on 15 Jul 2015.
The Thin Blue Line has generally received very positive reviews.
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