Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis

From reading "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose, I was acquainted with the suspicious "suicide" of the famous explorer Meriwether Lewis at a Tennessee "tavern." "Mysterious Circumstances" is an exploration of alternative versions of what might have happened, filmed with considerable attention to authenticity in locale and the era. Many historians have accepted the "suicide" version, but Lewis was traveling on a notoriously dangerous trail, and shooting oneself twice and then cutting oneself "from head to foot with a razor" is a suspicious "suicide," to say the least. The various accounts of the same event are evocative of Akira Kurosawa's approach to storytelling in "Rashomon" (1950), the one flaw being that the versions here are not clearly accounts by different witnesses to the same events but are perhaps rooted in later speculation by those who found the accepted version singularly bizarre. The first version depicted in this movie seems to be close to the version that prevailed, essentially by default. And it is, indeed, played as singularly bizarre. Two previous reviewers (action addicts, no doubt) rated this movie 1 star; 11 other previous reviewers rated it 9 or 10 stars. No way does this average 4.8. My quick calculation makes it about 7.6. This film is worth watching if you have more than a juvenile attention span and are intrigued by mystery.

I was anxious to watch this and learn something about American history that I was woefully ignorant of.

And I remain so.

After less than 30 minutes, I couldn't take anymore of Governor Meriwether's outrageous and "WAY over the top" antics. I felt as if I were watching a movie from the 1930s with the massively exaggerated movements in whatever he was doing.

The dog was a delight - as are all animals, but he couldn't save Meriweather's performance.

The cell phone text notices going off randomly were also an unwelcomed bonus. If I were a betting person, I'd bet it was the director's phone.

Again - I DID want to like this film!! I tried! "They" just made it impossible.

The dog got it an extra star.

A period in history that I never knew of. I learned a thing or too despite my advanced age. This is a good enjoyable flick.

"Mysterious Circumstances, The Death of Meriwether Lewis", is the story of the tragic and historic event, the death of legendary explorer Meriwether Clark in Baldwyn Mississippi. The film is full of shady figures during cold and dark times many years ago. A real "who done it" featuring love, action and of course history.

We were glued to our seats throughout the film wondering what's next.

The movie was even a bit spooky!

I loved the dog in this film too. He was amazing in the role he played.

We enjoyed this movie thoroughly!

Poorly written. Poor dialogue. Poor acting. Poor filmography. Everyone is "clean!" and living in the backwoods of the US. M. Lewis is played as if he is n imbecile. You can hear something buzzing in the background of several scenes. Another reviewer suggested it was a cell phone. Not sure.

I do not blame this on the actors. They could only work with what they were given. A remake, perhaps with a whole different script seems in order.

I am not certain why the director and producer put this out...other than perhaps they got funding so, "what the heck?"

All of the early "10 star" reviews seem to be phony, at best.

Mysterious Circumstance portrays what it feels like when you and your friends gather together to theorize the truth of mysteries. The diversity seen in everyone's ability to act through completely different scenarios and provide a variety of personalities per character is an accomplishment of masterful talent.

The film eludes to many different possible outcomes without ever stating to know more than is common knowledge. The film is an experience of it's own kind. It's almost an Anthology of possible scenarios. The funnest part is going through each story and spotting the similarities and differentiating between them.

What comes off as a passion project to many will also come to be a lovable classic in the homes of many who love a good mystery and to those who love theorizing.