man_with_a_van

This is produced like a 90s trash documentary, every two seconds there are disclaimers, that the shown material could be shocking (which it isn't). Most of the time we see and hear the lady that helped catching Jared. She tells a totally boring story like a thriller. The music is overdramatic and she tries like crazy to press out tears (without success). And to be honest: I don't believe she really is as good as she wants to bee seen. It seems that she finally helped catching Jared because otherwise she would have been in trouble to (but that's just my own opinion). Altogether a mediocre documentary that is far too long and focuses on a person nobody wants to hear about.

To start with the good things: James Mcavoy is brillant as always. The first 2 acts are quite the same quality as the original.

But then.... When the original gets really really dark and disregards conventions in a shocking manner the remake transforms into a standard good vs. Evil action flick with an unbearable lame Hollywood ending. They even have the nerve to sneak a complete useless explosion in the movie. An enjoyable but forgettable flick that falls far short of the truly shocking original. Would have been better to make a movie loosely based on the original but remaking the first half exactly the same as the original and than going brutally textbook Hollywood ist doomed to fail.

I'm not sure what to think about movies like this. This one is well maden and entertaining and all but there is an issue I can't get out if my head: Why is it released before the lawsuit has come to an end? Why would anybody want to publish a true events movie with an open ending? If you think about it there is just one solution: You want to influence the public opinion. I don't know if the shown events are presented in a one-sided way. Maybe not but if a director wants a movie to be a neutral document he waits untill the case is closed. There is no need to release the thing as fast as possible. I can't avoid the feeling that there are more and more documentaries that are just image movies produced by lawyers to push the public opinion in the right direction to win the case. That doesn't mean that all those cases are not true but I think we shouldn't fall for a new influencing-movement that could lead to the result that only the one with the better "movie" wins his case.