Enemies of the State

This is a cautionary tale of how not to enable bad behavior. These parents love to play victims and everything their son does is perfect. The son was flawed and you failed to help him.

Very poor documentary, filled with eerie music, transitions, rambling monologues to fill time. You could fit all the information into maybe 20 minutes. Lots of chat about how he didn't get caught by people who keep protesting, not wanting to cooperate because they know full well what Matt DeHart was capable of doing and not the depressed church going young man. Was not convinced by the body language of DeHart and even less by the family members and those defending DeHart. Should have been a short film. But, like most crimes, hard to find the smoking gun but lots of evidence to show who likely used it to a low degree of doubt.

I meant what I said long drawn-out movie with no real ending.

What happened with the reviews here? I was almost shocked by the reviews as I was by some parts of the film... Are people so used to be fed "the truth" with a spoon, that they get angry in the face of ambivalence? Because this was exactly what this film dealt with.

Other reviewers here seem to have panned the film because its subject may be a "bad guy". You know you're rating the movie, not Matt DeHart, right?

Enemies of the State deals with half-truths, spins, perspectives, the dearth of information and what we as the public make of it all. It deals with it in a subtle way and yes, starting with one perspective and gradually revealing more, while all along the way reminding the viewer that the facts are few, and to be suspicious.

By the time it's over, I hope you have made up your mind. This case may be clear by the film's end, but when it comes to other controversies in the news, who do we root for, and who do we vilify?

The documentary was overall interesting but heavily laden with actor recreating scenes that were wholly unneeded. In an age where everything is a conspiracy and there are 'heroes' everywhere against a 'shadowy government' this is an interesting look at someone who made such claims to distract from what the government was really trying to charge and prosecute. Beside the dramatic recreations the lack of an interview with the main subject is really to the detriment of the overall documentary. Over produced, over long, could have been edited down to an hour or an hour and a quarter and it may have been bumped up the rating.