Tread

I don't know if what the man said about the people in the city was true, partly true or not true at all. These small cities owned by mostly one family are known to yield a lot of power. If it is true or partly true, what this man was saying, it just shows us that hurting people has consequences. I tend to believe what the man is saying was partly to mostly true.

It is a shame that our courts and laws do not protect us from people in power being able to take advantage of another.

With great power comes great responsibility!

This documentary probably doesn't begin to tell the reality of both sides that came to a tragic head when Marv Heemeyer enacted the ultimate "payback". To truly get a picture of what the dynamics at play were we need to have some more folks who knew Marv and have his backstory meticulously fleshed out. Why not? The whole film rides on Marv's final actions so shouldn't we be more privy to his life up until this point? I'm looking to wholly and not coincidently explain how this all came to be.

Anyway, Hollywood loves revenge movies as we all know. Strange as it seems when it is real it is something to absolutely loathe, especially in the case of a man who unprovoked would have just been a "muffler store" owner.

Perspective-wise: no one was injured and only the protagonist died by his own hand. That is still tragic but we all know if this is wholly despicable or not depends on how band Marv was truly treated. That is the flaw here as I just do not find enough even-handed research to shed light on everything the led up to Marv's final, seemingly quite clear-headed, reality break (he wasn't a Blues Bro., but he felt he was on a mission if you follow).

See this. It is a sociology fiasco of unparalleled proportions. It might have been more deadly and it is quite fortunate it wasn't. As such it is a study in human behavior the viewer may well hunger for a more in-depth explanation.

I don't usually like to watch documentaries but this one caught my attention because it was a kind of revenge thing. It was a well-written and a well-thought out 'film' and it is worth watching. What a pity that Reagan died the following day!

"When you visit evil on someone, believe me, it will be visited on you." Marv Heemeyer

And so, you get to see the most bizarre documentary this year at a time when you may have had just enough of formulaic dramas on demand. Netflix brings us Marv, who is so pissed at the small town of Granby, Colorado, that he outfits a giant Kubota bulldozer like a tank and wrecks a serious number of buildings.

We don't remember this tragic and sometimes amusing incident from 2004 because we were grieving the day after for Ronald Reagan. Now, however, we can relive the bizarre event and give it its just due in Paul Solet's magnetizing documentary called Tread, for obvious reasons. I've lived in a small town like that (pop about 2000) where life can be unforgiving with slights remembered, rumors deadly, and good ol' boys rule not always to a working stiff's benefit.

It's not important to know who is right or wrong. Rather it is discouraging to know that neither side is right and that provincialism thrives as could be expected in blue collar enclaves where zoning and sewage district decisions are not made by God but by petty bureaucrats, who can change a modest welder's life to their advantage and his distinct outrage.

After setting the scene of growing acrimony, Solet shows original footage and voiceovers to chronicle the tank's journey, helicopter and drone shots, and a few restaged moments to try to replicate the eccentricity of the event. Marv's cassette tape testimony is the most interesting, for he barely reveals his rage in favor of his apocalyptic predictions. No one can stop the giant as it targets the buildings and homes of Marv's perceived enemies.

Working-class outrage does gets lost in sheer wonder at the forbidding destroyer, perhaps echoing our own numbed inability to stop a pandemic or a destructive political machine. Yet, as almost low-key as this revenge is, it is nonetheless true, and a bit of our outrage rides inside with Marv.

Tread seems to hold our abiding struggles as if in a nightmare where we tread on our perceived enemies and forget the lessons of tolerance our parlous times demand of us.

You'll not move from your seat in disbelief. It makes being cooped up worth while for 89 minutes.

I believe Marv 100%. I grew up in a small town of 1100 people and anyone who grew up in a similar town knows these good old boys clubs exist without a doubt. There are 3 or 4 familys in these small towns and if you cross them, they will have you excommunicated and isolated and do whatever they can to smear your name. Marv had an extreme reaction to such an experience for sure and it's terrible that he did so, but anyone trying to act like his story doesn't hold any water at all is fooling themselves. These people undoubtedly pushed him and now want to act like they were innocent little lambs in all of it. Not buying it.