Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Clifton Johnson Initially, I was like, "The OJ documentary is how long?!?!" But I never realized that this story could be a prism through which to understand race, class, privilege and celebrity in this country. And watching it while a jury debates over whether Walter Scott's killer was guilty of anything? It reminded me that many things have changed...and many things haven't. I experienced OJ's trial as a college freshman, but I didn't understand it till now.

jluck-77398 Clearly this was a very cool in depth look but I think America was a little tired of the story. Between the other doc done and the A&E show being put out just before this, the story had been told over and over. That being said, this was definitely the most in depth and will probably live on in history. Kudos to the team - must have been quite the undertaking.

paul2001sw-1 O.J. Simpson was born in unpromising circumstances, but blessed with good looks, charm, and an athletic talent, grew to become one of the most famous men in America: a genius footballer, and an African American who became popular amongst all races, though the latter in part was due to his own willingness to abandon his original racial identity. But his second marriage turned bad, his suave public image increasingly at odds with his brutal treatment of his wife; and eventually, she (and her friend, and probable lover) were murdered. O.J. was on the record as having threatened them, had no alibi, and forensic evidence pointed strongly to his guilt; when the police called him in, he went on the run in a near-suicidal state, and the police followed on the freeway, trying to talk him out of doing himself in. They succeeded in this, only for O.J. to mount an extraordinary defence, in which his lawyers effectively put the Los Angeles Police Department on trial for its long and despicable history of racism. After a trial of months, a mainly black jury took just a few hours to acquit.But ostracised by the white community in which he'd made his home, O.J. soon lost a civil suit (in a different court, with a lower standard of proof), and motivated (it seems) by his desire for adulation, he fell in with a bad crowd. The new gangsta-style O.J. was perhaps no more the real man than the all-round nice guy or the evil killer; eventually, he threatened (with menaces, and armed friends in tow) someone whom he suspected of stealing his stuff and was finally sentenced to a gaol sentence that was both excessive (in the context of his latest crime) and overdue. He remain in gaol today.The strength of 'O.J.: Made in America', a marathon documentary that retells this extraordinary story, is that it brings out every facet: his remarkable sporting talent, his plastic personality, the horror of the murders, the grim reality of being poor and black in L.A., the theatre of his arrest and trial, and the sordid nature of his eventual downfall. It's long - possibly overlong - but the title is apt: this is a story that could only have happened in the U.S.A., and it says more about the country than the lurid headlines might have suggested at the time. There's no happy ending for anyone here - but what once seemed like soap opera, now feels strangely like a portrait of a nation, and yes, a dark reflection on the American dream.

neil-swift-23453 Well is it the final chapter? I seriously doubt it. We all must have seen numerous documentaries about OJ and what happened or didn't happen and we all have our own version of what we think happened. Some older people (like me) may remember watching this as it happened and some may have caught up after the fact but it's still a fascinating watch.This is as comprehensive as it gets, and at seven and a half hours does cover it very comprehensively. I did it in three instalments and never got bored on any occasion. It was factual, with actual footage of the trail, and is updated with commentary provided by many who were involved.I'm not gonna take sides and slam or praise anyone but be assured, you will. No matter how you think things went down you will have a good guy and bad guy scenario and like me you will become a little louder than normal.Well worth a watch even though it takes a while.