Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning (TV Mini Series 2023) Poster

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8/10
Compelling look back at Boston's complicated history with racism
paul-allaer17 December 2023
As Episode 1 of "Murder In Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning" (2023 release; 3 episodes ranging 50 50 55 min each) opens, it is "October 23, 1989, and a guy calls 911: "My wife's been shot. I've been shot." He eventually informs the cops that a "Black male" did this, prompting a massive police hunt in the Black communities of Boston. We then go back in time to understand how Boston was such a segregated city to begin with. At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary series from director Jason Hehir ("The Last Dance"). Here he reassesses events for 3+ decades ago. Episode 1 looks at the roots of the racial problems in Boston (why is it that Boston, a progressive city on so many levels, had such large issues with racism?). Episode 2 looks at the events from 1989. Episode 3 looks at the impact and implications of these events to this very day. I vaguely remembered when the 1989 events unfolded. Indeed it was not just the top story in Boston for weeks and weeks, but it also had a tremendous impact on the national scene. This mini-series doesn't avoid any difficult topics, and instead provides a lot of context and explanations. It all makes for compelling viewing on many levels, and these 3 episodes jet flew by.

"Murder In Boston: Roots, Rampage and Reckoning" recently started airing on HBO and streaming on Mx, where I caught it the other night. This mini-series has received near universal critical acclaim, and it is currently rated 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes for good reason. If you have any interest in social justice and the history of racism in this country, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
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7/10
An important story to tell
lohselind25 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
This is a very important story to tell, however, I just wish that they had marketed it differently. The story of racism, police brutality and the injustice of Willie Bennett deserved to be told. We have to learn from it and people should be held accountable for their actions.

Nevertheless, I feel that the other victim in the case deserved a lot mere screen time. We learned hardly anything about Carol DiMaiti (I am not going to call her by the last name of the disgusting human who killed her). She deserved so much more, and to be at least featured as much as her husband.

The documentary had my attention throughout though and I was appalled through most of it. A definite must see, just don't expect to learn a whole lot about the Stuart couple, but more about terrible police work, racism and how a wrongful conviction affects so many people.
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9/10
A must-watch documentary about the racist past of Boston
Metrowog714 January 2024
The series narrates the story of the murder of a White pregnant woman in the late 80s in Boston. But this is not a usual murder docuseries; this is about racism that resulted in massive pain and suffering for the Black community. A Testimony to Why Black Lives Matter is so important. This is the story of a disgusting police failure, a huge media failure, an incompetent mayor, and more importantly a story of racism inside all of us.

Dunn mourns the loss of the city that he knew and grew up in. The death of that city should be celebrated. I'm guessing he went straight to a MAGA rally right after the interview! Do not make America great again.
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4/10
Bait and Switch to an overlong documentary
bczech-46-4855952 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
What I expected, based on the cover, was a documentary about the murder of Carol Stuart, and the investigation of the crime. While the documentary did provide some of that information, it instead spent a prolonged amount of time (especially in hours 1 and 3) not about the case, but Boston's horrible reputation as it related to racial issue.

The case, in an of itself is riveting, and the investigation, including the identification of "suspects" and reaction to the Black community by the police and media, is a necessity for this story. But somewhere along the way, Carol Stuart got lost. Even her husband, the convicted murderer, Charles Stuart, was not the focus. Instead the focus was on the police and how they followed a bunch of leads given up by persons in the area that wrongly identified other persons as the killer.

If the producer had edited out about an hour of the current content and added some focus on Carol and Charles, this doc could have been saved.
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