O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose (1974)
*** (out of 4)
In between THE CRAZIES and MARTIN, director George A Romero and producer Richard Rubenstein made this documentary, which shows what a special player O.J. Simpson was in college as well as in the NFL.
Obviously, when you watch this documentary today you can't help but think of what happened to Simpson after this was made. Obviously this film just covers him up until 1972 as we get his football career as well as some brief bits of information about him moving into movies. There's even a mention of THE KLANSMAN that he made.
One really can't help but think of what happened after these events but at the same time, for the most part, this was a pretty good documentary. I'd argue that its 47-minute running time drags at times but there's still a lot of interesting information to be had here. The film has O.J. speaking throughout so we get to hear his thoughts on his career as well as what else he wants to do in life. There are some moments of his first wife speaking as well as clips of O.J. and his son playing.
If you're looking for something ground-breaking then you're not going to get it here but it is fascinating seeing how Simpson was looked out during this period. There are interviews with several of his coaches and team mates as well as A.C. Cowlings and Howard Cosell. Fans of Romero won't find any of his trade mark stuff here as this was pretty much just a job.
