If you ignore the whining, consiracies, and middle school angst ...
This is mediocre. The filmmakers are clearly searching for a narrative, searching for a villain to indict, a conspiracy to expose, a myth to bust, a solution to propose, ..., and never find it. Instead, they throw a series of half-baked, mutually contradictory, commentaries at the wall, hoping something sticks. But ... it doesn't.
In particular, the highlighted conspiracy theory, that the crack problem in the US was caused by US involvement in the conflict in the small nation of Nicaragua, is too far fetched, and the dots too far from connected, for credibility.
I love documentary "showing both sides," usually by interweaving interviews with opposing parties. There's a right way to do that. This film just confuses the viewer by contradicting its own first hand accounts. Were the crack addicted mothers interviewed, who told of the devastation cocaine visited on their lives and families, a myth, as was later suggested? Was crack an overblown problem, xploited to promote negative stereotypes? Or were the evils all too real, but the result of a racist attack on the black community? Or ... or ... or ... They 180'ed so many times, it made my head spin. What point were they ultimately making, if any? I have no clue.
Given how much time and money it must have taken, you'd think they'd have their heads clear about the point they are making.
The worst part of the documentary is the central role of the people they call the "stars," Mitch Credle, Noveen Crumbie, ... This is just terrible documentary film making. A good film narrative shows rather than tells. In a documentary, this goes double. You focus on people who have a story to tell, who had a personal involvement in the events, to engage the viewer and puts them in the position to judge for themselves. The worst thing you can do, which they did, is have some commentators tell you what to think, especially when what they say is incoherent and has the tone of a rebellious adolescent.
This is all a big no no. If I were teaching a class on documentary film making, I'd use this as an example of what not to do.
In particular, the highlighted conspiracy theory, that the crack problem in the US was caused by US involvement in the conflict in the small nation of Nicaragua, is too far fetched, and the dots too far from connected, for credibility.
I love documentary "showing both sides," usually by interweaving interviews with opposing parties. There's a right way to do that. This film just confuses the viewer by contradicting its own first hand accounts. Were the crack addicted mothers interviewed, who told of the devastation cocaine visited on their lives and families, a myth, as was later suggested? Was crack an overblown problem, xploited to promote negative stereotypes? Or were the evils all too real, but the result of a racist attack on the black community? Or ... or ... or ... They 180'ed so many times, it made my head spin. What point were they ultimately making, if any? I have no clue.
Given how much time and money it must have taken, you'd think they'd have their heads clear about the point they are making.
The worst part of the documentary is the central role of the people they call the "stars," Mitch Credle, Noveen Crumbie, ... This is just terrible documentary film making. A good film narrative shows rather than tells. In a documentary, this goes double. You focus on people who have a story to tell, who had a personal involvement in the events, to engage the viewer and puts them in the position to judge for themselves. The worst thing you can do, which they did, is have some commentators tell you what to think, especially when what they say is incoherent and has the tone of a rebellious adolescent.
This is all a big no no. If I were teaching a class on documentary film making, I'd use this as an example of what not to do.
- rmmorelli
- Jan 17, 2021