Valentine Road

Reviewing a documentary like this one becomes as much a review of the actual event as a commentary on the cinematic production. And since thoughts about this actual event are fraught with emotions on either side, or on many sides, the reviews I skimmed through seemed inclined to see this presentation of the events as being biased against whoever the reviewer felt was the "real" victim.

I'm gay and personally experienced the bullying & name calling from classmates (and lack of support from any adults who might be expected to provide guidance to young people) while I was in school in suburban Chicago many, many years ago. I would, therefore, be inclined to see Larry as the victim and Brandon as the bad guy, at least before getting into the facts of the case.

I think the documentary has done a laudable job showing that both children … and they were 14 and 15 year old children at the time … were victims of both parental & societal neglect, abandonment, abuse and mind boggling stupidity. Both lost their lives from preventable and curable problems. Larry quite literally was denied the opportunity to ever find out if "It Gets Better" and Brandon doesn't fare a whole lot better although he continues to live.

I applaud the emphasis that the documentary puts on the adults involved. It may take a village to raise a child, but the cabal of idiots involved in this case demonstrates the damage a "village" of adults can cause in the pathetic attempt to raise its children. The homophobic, bitter 7th grade teacher is as bad as the foolish 8th grade teacher who gave Larry a second–hand dress and treated him like a Barbie doll. Equally to blame were the school officials who were more interested in toeing the legal line than serving the interest of their students … including Larry and Brandon before the crisis and all the other children following the event.

The parents of the two boys and others who were meant to care for them were, for the most part, sadly inadequate. Apparently the care facility in which Larry ended up was a good place, but otherwise these two kids were left to deal with their own circumstances as well as with the drug addled failings of the adults in their lives, with no help. The prosecuting attorney seemed fairly level headed, although I don't really understand why Brandon was not allowed to be tried as a child. Possibly his outward appearance seemed more adult than his fragile personality would suggest. The defense attorneys seemed reasonable in their desire to have Brandon not tried as an adult, but the woman attorney who, at the end, kept announcing she loved Brandon and started crying, was acting in an irrational, far too emotional manner. Her interest in Brandon seemed anything but professional.

Certainly some of the jurors were totally incapable of making a valid judgment. Since there was no question about what Brandon had done, the only decision that needed to be made was what to do with him following the murder. Society had failed to protect him (or Larry) and now some inadequate representatives of that failed society were expected to decide what should happen next. If it weren't so sad, it would be funny. Had Brandon been raised in a reasonably normal family situation and developed into a self-assured, confident, loved young man, when Larry approached him while he was playing basketball with friends, Brandon could easily have laughed it off or even hugged Larry and turned it into a joke. But he saw it as one more attack on his personal dignity and from someone far less intimidating than his father.

Neither of these two children should have been made to feel so hated, to have developed such self-loathing and to have been abandoned to deal with life on their own.

Based on the letter that Brandon sent to the one teacher, maybe incarceration provided some protection for him and allowed him to develop into a more self-assured, sensible individual. It would be easy to argue that incarceration for 21 years was too little or too much. Was it meant to be punishment or as an attempt to provide a remedial environment?

It did save him from further abuse from his father (who died soon after the incident anyway) and the self-absorbed drug addicted mother, but that should have happened before he murdered Larry.

I think the documentary was quite well done. I know some people with limited attention spans may have found it slow moving at times, but that may have been appropriate since neither of these marginal children ever generated much in the way of speedy action from the local community and that lethargy & indifference extended even to the collateral damage inflicted on the other children in this story.

That's what I got from this film. Almost ALL of the adults seem like a bunch of narrow minded zombies. Is it any wonder that such a tragedy occurred?

The school should have taken control of the situation, clearly it was a powder keg waiting for a spark.

Larry should have been counseled as to how to deal with his issues.

Brandon was another lost kid and ended up killing Larry. The school and his parents were absent and incompetent, if either side would have exercised a little guidance we would have seen a totally different outcome.

The jurors are another group of idiots who have their heads up their a$$es.

I could have done without all the interviews with the kids- a little goes a long way.

In conclusion, I was quite literally shocked that these backward people went on camera and admitted to being so closed minded. No wonder the kids are screwed up!

I have always thought that great documentaries achieve greatness because they manage to strike a strong emotional reaction in the viewer. A film that covers a subject well but which doesn't excite the viewer, in my opinion, cannot be a great documentary. Valentine Road is a great documentary, as it's practically impossible to watch the film without having exceptionally strong feelings welling up inside as you watch. Additionally, the filmmaker's style is extremely effective and manages to make the most of describing this horrible tragedy and its aftermath. And, because it is so emotional and so effective, you might just want to watch it with a box of Kleenex nearby.

The film is about an awful murder that occurred a few years ago in Oxnard, California. In front of his entire 8th grade class, Brandon McInerney pulled out a gun and shot his classmate, Larry. This was no accident--Brandon meant to do this, as he then put the gun up to the other kid's head and pulled the trigger again...killing the boy. None of this is disputed--Brandon killed the other kid and intended to.

This initial portion of the film brought me close to tears many times. It's tragic...and pointless. You cannot help but feel the pain of the kids who were forced to watch their classmate die--and the victim seemed like a nice kid. However, here is where the film starts to get uncomfortable--very uncomfortable. Many folks now begin to talk in front of the camera about many issues that seriously annoyed me. First, Brandon has many supporters who feel that his being tried as an adult is wrong and want him kept in the juvenile justice system (where they can only keep him until he comes of age). This subject is controversial and is bound to cause a lot of strong feelings in the viewer to erupt. Second, lots of folks (particularly teachers and jurors from the first trial) come up with reasons to blame Larry for being murdered. After all, some reasoned, Larry sure ACTED gay and had made advances on Brandon...and so, in a way, it's not Brandon's fault that he killed Larry. Others argued that Brandon grew up in a violent home--so his behavior is understandable. An awful lot of folks seemed really, really invested in coming up with these and other reasons that Brandon wasn't necessarily at fault...or at least to mitigate his guilt. In reading through some reviews on IMDb, I also noticed that some viewers also felt this way...so this is apparently a common reaction to the case.

"Valentine Road" is a great bit of social commentary and it illustrates the hidden divide within our communities. It will cause you to have many strong reactions and question the justice system, the school, the community and much more. But the best part of this is that the film's tone remains rather neutral. There is no narration and the camera just lets people talk and say what's on their mind--and it's surprising that folks are so candid about what they think deep within. I am sure you'll think some of these folks are total idiots! I love documentaries like this because they do not spoon-feed you and allow you to think for yourself--and decide WHO the idiots are! And, given its emotional impact and message, it's a film to see. See this documentary from HBO Films for yourself and see what you make of the case. And, wow...there's a lot to think about with this one!

By the way, my own feelings about this case are VERY strong--and some of this is probably because I was a teacher who also taught 8th grade (among others). This could have happened in one of my classrooms as I knew kids a lot like Brandon as well as Larry. It's sobering to think about that...

I am speachless after this documentary. How can the adults live with themselves after acting like this? It's terrifying how they sympatice for someone that killed someone else for showing unwanted affection. I really hope that people learn from this so people can feel the freedom of being themselves without fear.

I really felt sick after seeing this documentary.

Its hard when you show both sides and it was important to show both sides, but when people don't realise how bad the situation was... And even try to blame the little kid... Oh my god...

I suggest you don't watch it alone but with somebody you can talk to if you are sensitive.

America the land of the dreams right... bleh.