Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Kurt Kuenne

Writer:

Kurt Kuenne (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Crime

Plot:

A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.

Plot Keywords:

Colleague | Corpse | Breaking Up With Girlfriend | California | Bare Chested Male

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Kurt Kuenne	...	Himself (voice)
Dr. Andrew Bagby	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Bagby	...	Himself - Father
Kathleen Bagby	...	Herself - Mother
Dr. Shirley Turner	...	Herself - Ex-Girlfriend (archive footage)
Zachary Andrew Turner	...	Himself - Son (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dr. Heather Arnold	...	Herself - Former Fiance
Jon Atkinson	...	Himself - Friend
Bob Bagby	...	Himself - Uncle (archive footage)
Earlene Bagby	...	Herself - Bob's Widow
Linda Bagby	...	Herself - Aunt
Pat Bagby	...	Himself - Uncle
Jason Baldwin	...	Himself - Highschool Friend
Derek Barnard	...	Himself - Uncle
John Barnard	...	Himself - Cousin
Paul Barnard	...	Himself - John's Brother
Pete Barnard	...	Himself - Cousin
Ruth Barnard	...	Herself - Aunt
Robin Bates	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. John Bertolino	...	Himself - Residency Director
Dr. David Billings	...	Himself - Classmate
Dr. Lori Billings	...	Herself - Classmate
Helen Bloomfield	...	Herself - Godmother
Dr. Ian Bowmer	...	Himself - Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Jacqueline Brazil	...	Herself - Lawyer
Elizabeth Day	...	Herself - St. John's Regional Director of Child, Youth & Family Services (archive footage)
Danette Dooley	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. John Doucet	...	Himself - Shirley's Psychiatrist (archive footage)
Mary Dray	...	Herself - Student Affairs - Memorial University of Newfoundland
Dr. Ken Eckhert	...	Himself - Classmate
Karl Fischer	...	Himself - Friend
Marci Fischer	...	Herself - Friend
Olivier Galgani	...	Himself - Friend
Derek Green	...	Himself - Judge, Chief Justice (archive footage)
Vera Griffin	...	Herself - Student Affairs - Memorial University of Newfoundland
Himanshu	...	Himself - College Roomate
James	...	Himself - College Roomate
Mack Janke	...	Himself - Friend
Chris Koehler	...	Himself - Friend
Dr. Greg Little	...	Himself - Colleague
Dr. Tony Locke	...	Himself - Classmate
Dr. Jennifer Lombard	...	Herself - Classmate
Dr. Mark Lombard	...	Himself - Classmate
Dr. Janice Manthorne	...	Herself - Classmate
Dr. Scott McClellan	...	Himself - Professor
Pete McNab	...	Himself - Friend
Jan Mills	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. Anthony Monteverdi	...	Himself - Classmate
Darlene Nelville	...	Herself - Child & Youth Advocate (archive footage)
Matt Oetinger	...	Himself - Friend
Randy Piercy	...	Himself - Shirley's Lawyer (archive footage)
Michelle Pualuan	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. Suzanne Putnam	...	Herself - Colleague
Rhonda Ridenhour	...	Herself - Bob's Daughter
Dr. Andrew Rossiter	...	Himself - Classmate
Dr. Jennifer Shaulis	...	Herself - Colleague
T.J. Shears	...	Himself - Shirley's Son (archive footage)
Bob Sheraga	...	Himself - Friend
Sue Sheraga	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. Clark Simpson	...	Himself - Colleague
Dr. Rick Singleton	...	Himself - Grief Counselor
Gerald Smith	...	Himself - Provincial Minister of Health (archive footage)
Chris Snow	...	Himself - Minister - St. Michael's Parish
Carol Stein	...	Herself - Friend
Dr. Leslie Thomas	...	Herself - Classmate
Dr. Sherri-Lynn Tucker	...	Herself - Classmate
Kristian Vallèe	...	Himself - College Roommate
Gail Welsh	...	Herself - Judge (archive footage)

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

MSNBC Films

Quotes:

Kathleen Bagby: And the policeman who found him said that, um, he had wrapped him in a blanket rather than a plastic bag and, uh, he and another officer carried him gently back. And he made very sure that he kept the body very far away from the wicked woman who had murdered him.

Movie Connections:

References The Crow (1994)

A stunner

I just completed watching this harrowing documentary and it is only now that, having got the time to catch my breath, I am able to review it.

To begin with, I'd recommend not reading any of the other reviews so that you start watching it with absolutely no foreknowledge, and so that the film gets the opportunity to have the impact that it is designed to have, which, in my opinion, would only be fair to the director. Therefore without revealing the story I would only like to mention that this is a documentary that the film maker has made in remembrance of his close friend and his family; and its a bloody good watch.

The direction is great and the best part is that this documentary is made in 'real time'; which means that events unfold as the film progresses. This is probably something that I've never experienced in any other documentary before, since most of them are made in retrospect. It makes its point clean and crisp and it will certainly not be a waste of your time and money.

The film progresses in a quick and efficient manner and the time just seems to fly. The film is narrated in a very smart way with plenty of smash cuts. This documentary plays like a big budget commercial Hollywood film and will probably have you glued right up to the last minute.

So its good stuff. If you get the chance to watch it I'd recommend it. If you don't, well that's just too bad.