I'm sorry, looks like I'll be the lone wolf here, who didn't like this film. Here are the problems with it:
1) It's boring. Plain boring. Most of the entire film is talking heads. 4 talking heads. Yes, there is home footage of the martial arts guy doing some stuff when he was younger, there's footage of the former preacher before his life change, there's still photos of banks the bank robber ripped off, there's footage of the terrorist's "previous life." This latter footage was about the only semi-interesting footage in the entire film. But mostly, it's the 4 people, sitting in a chair, talking.
2) Most of the 4 people profiled come off boring. Seriously. I listened to the interview with the director afterward, as she talked about how they chose their 4 subjects. They collected profiles, spoke to people to get referrals/ideas, and then she said -- I kid you not -- of all the profiles, they only actually interviewed 4 people -- and these were the 4 that ended up being in the film.
I mean, really? There were no better subjects out there, anywhere, that would fit what you were looking for?
The former martial arts guy's story was a yawn. The former gay guy-turned straight preacher-turned back to gay guy's story was a yawn. The terrorist's story was a yawn. (Oh dear God, how can anyone fail and make that a bore-fest?) The bank robber's story was only semi-boring. But here's the thing: I have NO doubt that in real life, these are all interesting people. This filmmaker just happened to turn everyone's story into boredomville.
3) The filmmaker makes use of puppets throughout the film, using them to re-create some of the dramatic points in the lives of the subjects. So we hear one of the 4 people talking (in voice-over) as we watch the puppets act out some scene. No, really. Newsflash: It doesn't work. It's lame. Has this ever been done before? Probably not, but it's lame and boring.
There is nothing redeeming about this documentary. Nothing at all.
1) It's boring. Plain boring. Most of the entire film is talking heads. 4 talking heads. Yes, there is home footage of the martial arts guy doing some stuff when he was younger, there's footage of the former preacher before his life change, there's still photos of banks the bank robber ripped off, there's footage of the terrorist's "previous life." This latter footage was about the only semi-interesting footage in the entire film. But mostly, it's the 4 people, sitting in a chair, talking.
2) Most of the 4 people profiled come off boring. Seriously. I listened to the interview with the director afterward, as she talked about how they chose their 4 subjects. They collected profiles, spoke to people to get referrals/ideas, and then she said -- I kid you not -- of all the profiles, they only actually interviewed 4 people -- and these were the 4 that ended up being in the film.
I mean, really? There were no better subjects out there, anywhere, that would fit what you were looking for?
The former martial arts guy's story was a yawn. The former gay guy-turned straight preacher-turned back to gay guy's story was a yawn. The terrorist's story was a yawn. (Oh dear God, how can anyone fail and make that a bore-fest?) The bank robber's story was only semi-boring. But here's the thing: I have NO doubt that in real life, these are all interesting people. This filmmaker just happened to turn everyone's story into boredomville.
3) The filmmaker makes use of puppets throughout the film, using them to re-create some of the dramatic points in the lives of the subjects. So we hear one of the 4 people talking (in voice-over) as we watch the puppets act out some scene. No, really. Newsflash: It doesn't work. It's lame. Has this ever been done before? Probably not, but it's lame and boring.
There is nothing redeeming about this documentary. Nothing at all.