Robert Fitzpatrick spent $140,000 of his own money on subway ads that warned of the apocalypse. A true story.Robert Fitzpatrick spent $140,000 of his own money on subway ads that warned of the apocalypse. A true story.Robert Fitzpatrick spent $140,000 of his own money on subway ads that warned of the apocalypse. A true story.
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Engaging little documentary but it doesn't push or enquire anywhere near like it should have done
If you recall in 2011 there were headlines about a man in America (of course) who claimed the world would end on May 21st 2011 and got a few mentions in the "and finally" stories on the news. Well, in the run-up to that great event, Garret Anton Harkawik got access to Robert Fitzpatrick and result is this documentary which, rather surprisingly, didn't come out till the next year.
It is not going to ruin the ending of this film for you to tell you that Fitzpatrick was wrong and that the world did not end in 2011 – not on the day he claimed or indeed any other of the days in that year. This film takes us up to that point and pretty much leaves us on the moment where it fails to happen. The film consists of mainly a talking heads interview with Fitzpatrick, one that sticks in my mind because the use of a crappy camera in the range of those used served to remind me what a beautiful image can be captured when we see the man through one of the good cameras. Anyway, what we get from the interview is a nice guy – an unassuming guy who lives alone now that his mother has passed on and he seems incredibly sincere. He is not a nut job (well, not in the traditional sense), nor is he a bible-thumper and nor is he out to get donations from people, in fact he wasted his own money trying to inform people.
The film leaves us in no doubt that he is wrong and was misguided but it does a good job to have us feel sympathy for me. His interviews are pleasant to watch and the only downside was that I didn't think Harkawik pushed enough considering the scoop he got by having this much access. Fitzpatrick talks of his mother but doesn't get pushed, talks about his life but doesn't get pushed – I really would loved to have seen someone like Werner Herzog doing the interview, we would have got so much more. The "money shot" of the world not ending is hard to watch because Fitzpatrick does look crestfallen but what is harder is that a million tourists in Time Square seem keen to mock him as a result, doing horn signs behind his head, laughing in his face and so on. While for some viewers he is getting his deserved mockery but to me I found it cruel and unnecessary – the man is a religious nut who thought he could predict the rapture, let him go about his days as he quietly hands out pamphlets, he is certainly not yelling at people on the street like some would.
The film could have done a lot more but as a document of a man it is pretty interesting and has good access. Fitzpatrick is not the nut of the headlines, he is a real person and it is weird to find him being pleasant – he had misguided faith and paid a price from his own money. The internet was full of rumor about lots of others who gave up everything they owned in preparation and were ruined by Fitzpatrick – this film shows one couple asking him for the money for the flights/trip to Times Square while another guy rather unconvincingly says he skipped his rent that month and gave it to the homeless so can Fitzpatrick give it back (you've never seen a less convincing hustler in your life than this guy), but is anyone did give up anything then they didn't use that money to go to NYC on that day because there is no fuss – nor could I find any stories afterwards about others who had lost everything to follow Fitzpatrick. The film is probably too gentle on him and not as inquisitive as I wanted, but it still works well enough to show Fitzpatrick as he is – a misguided but pleasant guy but with more of an origin story than the film gives us.
It is not going to ruin the ending of this film for you to tell you that Fitzpatrick was wrong and that the world did not end in 2011 – not on the day he claimed or indeed any other of the days in that year. This film takes us up to that point and pretty much leaves us on the moment where it fails to happen. The film consists of mainly a talking heads interview with Fitzpatrick, one that sticks in my mind because the use of a crappy camera in the range of those used served to remind me what a beautiful image can be captured when we see the man through one of the good cameras. Anyway, what we get from the interview is a nice guy – an unassuming guy who lives alone now that his mother has passed on and he seems incredibly sincere. He is not a nut job (well, not in the traditional sense), nor is he a bible-thumper and nor is he out to get donations from people, in fact he wasted his own money trying to inform people.
The film leaves us in no doubt that he is wrong and was misguided but it does a good job to have us feel sympathy for me. His interviews are pleasant to watch and the only downside was that I didn't think Harkawik pushed enough considering the scoop he got by having this much access. Fitzpatrick talks of his mother but doesn't get pushed, talks about his life but doesn't get pushed – I really would loved to have seen someone like Werner Herzog doing the interview, we would have got so much more. The "money shot" of the world not ending is hard to watch because Fitzpatrick does look crestfallen but what is harder is that a million tourists in Time Square seem keen to mock him as a result, doing horn signs behind his head, laughing in his face and so on. While for some viewers he is getting his deserved mockery but to me I found it cruel and unnecessary – the man is a religious nut who thought he could predict the rapture, let him go about his days as he quietly hands out pamphlets, he is certainly not yelling at people on the street like some would.
The film could have done a lot more but as a document of a man it is pretty interesting and has good access. Fitzpatrick is not the nut of the headlines, he is a real person and it is weird to find him being pleasant – he had misguided faith and paid a price from his own money. The internet was full of rumor about lots of others who gave up everything they owned in preparation and were ruined by Fitzpatrick – this film shows one couple asking him for the money for the flights/trip to Times Square while another guy rather unconvincingly says he skipped his rent that month and gave it to the homeless so can Fitzpatrick give it back (you've never seen a less convincing hustler in your life than this guy), but is anyone did give up anything then they didn't use that money to go to NYC on that day because there is no fuss – nor could I find any stories afterwards about others who had lost everything to follow Fitzpatrick. The film is probably too gentle on him and not as inquisitive as I wanted, but it still works well enough to show Fitzpatrick as he is – a misguided but pleasant guy but with more of an origin story than the film gives us.
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- bob the moo
- Mar 2, 2014
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- $500 (estimated)
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