Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

sidney76 This is one of the finest documentaries I have ever seen and I have viewed many such films. It brought me to tears at numerous places. This documentary does what I believe only the very best documentaries do: it informs, it carries a powerful message, it inspires, it raises deep emotions and, most of all, it stays with you. It is a gift that keeps on giving. This is movie about heroes, unknown heroes. It is a film MADE by a hero. I congratulate and thank Travis Williams, Brandy Alexander and June Hardwick and wish them MUCH success in their vital work (and much higher and richly deserved compensation!). I congratulate and thank the filmmaker, Dawn Porter, and wish her continued success in HER vital work. I wish good luck and blessings to the men and women represented by the public defenders in the film and all across our nation. This is a magnificent film. I am grateful beyond words for the privilege of having viewed it. All I can say is "thank you" to everyone who made it a reality.

Patrick Anderson Every American should watch this documentary to find out what really goes in inside the criminal justice system. The incredible work that Public Defenders do is brought to life in this truly astonishing documentary.The film follows the private and professional lives of three Public Defenders, revealing the extreme pressure under which they work, the level of connection and commitment they show to their clients, and the sense of privilege and honor they bring to their job. This is in spite of the fact that the pay they receive barely covers their grocery bills, and that they are required to manage up to 150 cases at a time.Millions of Americans are arrested each year, many of them obviously for crimes they did not commit. and the only legal representation that more than half of these people receive is provided by just a few thousand Public Defenders across the country. This heart-warming and heart-breaking documentary gives viewers a realistic picture of the consequences.

bob the moo Gideon's Army is a commendable film; although I do not agree with the unquestioning universal praise it seems to have had from critics, I can agree to this – that for sure it is about a problem and it presents that problem by accessing this world through the experiences of a handful of Public Defendants working within the system. The film starts with the great principle that all people deserve the right to be defended in court even if they cannot afford to pay someone to do this for them; from here it then shows us the reality of this – the lawyers who make a very low wage and work an intense case load, the reality of the pressure to plead guilty and take the low jail time as opposed to fight for your innocence but risk losing and getting a longer time, etc.For me I was really already on side with this. I know there is always the temptation to assume that if someone is arrested and in court then they probably did something to justify that (particularly when the defendant is heavily tattooed), I know myself that this is not the case as I was once taken in on suspicion of terrorism and then charged with offensive weapons mainly because I was in possession of a Northern Irish accent and in the wrong place at the wrong time (2 court dates over 6 months but ultimately totally acquitted). I also knew, thanks to another documentary, that in the US, "jail" is not just another word for prison but is a place where the accused (not guilty) are sent when they cannot afford the bail – perhaps for 4 months, perhaps for years while their court case slowly proceeds; so I already understood that the system is pretty unfair for those without the resources available to them.The film adds to this impression by showing the reality of their "right to a fair trial". This right involves jail time in absence of bail, a lawyer working on low money and their nerves, and the pressure to plead out regardless. The film does a fairly decent job of showing this but not enough. I didn't feel gutted by the reality as I should have done and I didn't feel that the film managed to make the link from the examples in the film up to the bigger picture. What it does well is to show us some specific people working hard within a flawed system and gives them credit for what they try to do – they are the Army of the title so I guess it makes sense that the film does feature them, but I did feel it loses something by how it does it.The system is broken but instead I watched idealistic (mostly) people working in this field. The film brushes over the fact that statistically these "perfect models" will burn out like the majority do, and focuses on their struggle - not LOSS, but struggle. By ending the film with a victory it also damages the bigger picture point – it still makes it, but it damages it. I would have found the film much more effective if it had condemned the system rather than holding up the good examples, but I guess this was its focus all along, so it is a little unfair of me to judge it for this – it did what it set out to do well enough, but I think a greater service would have been performed had it had a sharper aim and focus.Very good for what it sets out to do – but it really should do so much more with this subject.

Terry McGhee Gideon's Army is a documentary film that tears the rusted lid off of the justice system to expose the hidden truths behind why Lady Justice wears a tear stained blindfold.Dawn Porter is the founder of Trilogy Films and along with Motto Pictures and HBO Documentaries they follow the lives of three Public Defenders who give everything they have to strive to prove that a person accused of a crime shall indeed be held innocent until proved guilty in a court of law. Travis Williams, Brandy Alexander and June Hardwick confirm the nightmares that anyone who has ever served as a juror knows first hand, that our justice system is flawed, and that the assumptions of guilt can quite easily be the downfall of the innocent.The film deals heavily with the morality of personal struggle and in no way, shape, or form does it endorse or celebrate the protection of the heinous criminals who feed like parasites off of the dedication and hope of those who are there to attempt to counter balance the heavily laden scales of justice to give everyone a fair fight in court.It is far too easy for those who have never experienced the cold hard glare of the American Justice System to sit back and assume that all is well, and that no person can be found guilty unless they are guilty. I mean, they must have done something to be arrested in the first place, right? Wrong! Gideon's Army is the gavel slamming hard against the well oiled and waxed table top of preconceived notions. Before you find yourself in front of a judge in a court of law as a defendant you should know just how stacked against you the deck truly is. Gideon's Army will give you a glimpse of the horrors that await, and also show you that through dedication and hard work, there are indeed a small group of people out there who are fighting just as hard as you are to keep you innocent until proved guilty.