Blue Caprice
September. 13,2013 RA narrative feature film inspired by the events known as the Beltway sniper attacks.
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Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
I cannot fault the first rate acting of the three main characters. The father John Allen Muhammad (then aged 42) played by Isaiah Washington, separated from his children, who was sour on life and straddled with a restraining order against him from being anywhere near his ex-wife, the young lad from Antigua Lee Boyd Malvo (then 17) played by Tequan Richmond that John brings back to the U.S. to commit his murderous spree, and John's friend and fellow gun owner Ray, played by Tim Blake Nelson. This is a true story and although all of North America's televisions audiences were glued to their TV's 24 hour news station between October 02, 2002 until that fateful morning on October 24, 2002, when John and Lee were discovered sleeping in their blue Caprice car at 3:15 a.m. in the morning, and then the world breathed a sigh of relief.Surprisingly the film did not focus on this 22 day period of random shootings and the fear it spread across the United States. Instead the first hour or so of the film was dedicated to providing us the audience with insight on how John Allen Muhammad recruited his young naive accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo who had no father figure in his life and was basically abandoned by his mother with no food or money to fend for himself back in Antigua. It seemed too easy for the adult John Allen Muhammad to manipulate the much younger and love starved Lee Boyd Malvo to accept the role of sniper and murderer.I would like to bring to your attention a comparison of how in 2005, the legal system went very hard on this young naive black man aged 17 sentencing him to six consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. Now compare this harsh sentence to the pathetic light sentence that occurred in 2013, of ten years probation and no jail time for a then 17 year old white caucasian Ethan Anthony Couch from Texas who while driving impaired killed four (4) innocent bystanders who were assisting a stranded motorist on the side of the road that this drunk and under the influence of drugs ran over and killed. Two passenger's in Couch's truck that he was driving also suffered bodily injury, one with complete paralysis. His parents were millionaires and their costly legal team defended this despicable killer with a defence that their (very rich) client suffered from a term called "affluenza". After fleeing the country illegally to Mexico and witnessed drinking and partying Ethan Anthony Couch was brought back to Texas and served a two year prison sentence.I am not disputing that both of these young men are responsible for the deaths they caused but without knowing which if these criminals was white or black skinned I am quite sure we could all ascertain by their imposed sentences which was the poor black youth and which was the rich white youth.As for Blue Caprice the acting by Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond and Tim Blake Nelson was superb. The background story of how John Allen Muhammad manipulated and intimidated the much younger parent less Lee Boyd Malvo was understood and I would have preferred the film would have captured more of the documented details of how these two criminals plotted, some times executed and other times abandoned their plan of another random execution all in an effort to somehow cover up that John Allen Muhammad's real intention was to kill his ex-wife and throw the police forces off that this was his sole purpose in the first place. The resulting damage attributed to these two killers was the 10 non fatal injuries and 17 deaths attributed to what is now known as the Beltway killers.
In 2002, the Washington DC area was paralyzed by sniper shootings. John Allen Muhammad (Isaiah Washington) was in a relationship with Lee Boyd Malvo (Tequan Richmond)'s mother and became his father figure. John brings Lee with him to America and indoctrinates him. John is bitter at the being declared unfit to be a father. He is angry and paranoid. He convinces Lee to murder and turns the blue Chevy Caprice into a killing machine. He discovers his wife and children hiding in Maryland, but it's about more than them by then.It's a slow meditative movie. It spends most of its time with the quiet young Lee under the unceasing domination of John. It spends little time with the DC killings. It's not altogether successful. There is no tension and it provides no great insights into either personality. It's the first full-length feature for Alexandre Moors and he shows a competence with the camera. However the movie is too slow and too quiet. I'm not sure he achieves anything more than an artsy film about two of the most enigmatic mass murderers.
There are Parts of this Indie Movie that are Extremely Well Done. There is the Cinematography that is Stunning at Times, the Performances are All Very Good, and there is an Ominous, Chilling, Creepiness that Permeates the Picture.But the Montage is Awful. The Overall Feeling that the Viewer is left with is Frustrating and Unsatisfying. it Seems that the Filmmakers Opted for Restraint and Offered a Cold and Overly Calculated Movie and it tries so Hard to be Unconventional and Non-Hollywood that They Forgot that this is a Movie.It is Pieced Together with a Shaggy Assemblance of Disjointed Drama that Scene for Scene is OK but a Film is a Combination of Scenes that are Put Together to Create Seamless Storytelling and this Fails Monumentally on that Level, Especially in the Final Act.The Pieces in this Misassembled Mess are on their own Remarkable and it is Obvious that there is Talent in this Creation, but all of that is Wasted as the Finished Film just leaves too much to be Desired and as Enlightened Entertainment or Even a Character Study the Completed Film Falls Apart and that is Inexcusable. Overall, it Cannot be Recommended as a Film that is Worthy of its Subject Matter or as a Film as Completed. Because the Movie just can't Escape the Feeling that it is Incomplete and Ill Fitting.
Admittedly going in with very little knowledge of the actual events behind the true story which "Blue Caprice" is based on (the Beltway sniper attacks) other than the fact that two men (one was a minor) had engaged in a series of public shootings on the east coast, during a span of three weeks in October 2002, the most intriguing aspect of this film is how its focus is not on the shootings themselves, but the relationship between the two killers, Lee Malvo and John Muhammad.Synopsis: After being pretty much abandoned, a sixteen year old Caribbean boy named Lee, played by Tequan Richmond (who is also the best thing to come out of that crappy "Everybody Hates Chris" show) seeks guidance from an American man named John (played by Isaiah Washington, who gives the performance of his life). The boy becomes absolutely mesmerized with his new found father figure, even though John is an openly abusive man, who is mentally unstable and holds an unhealthy disdain for the world around him. Quickly transforming into a cult leader-type, John begins to brainwash this damaged child, as "Blue Caprice" careens towards a cold blooded final 20 minutes.While John Muhammad is painted as the monster he truly is, with the way I have described the plight of Lee Malvo, his sixteen year old accomplice, I realize that there are readers who will be turned off simply because I do make it sound as though director Alexandre Moors shines a sympathetic light on a killer of innocent people. Now, is "Blue Caprice" meant to give a sympathetic portrayal of Lee Malvo? The answer is, yes. BUT (and this is my opinion, of course) even though Malvo did engage in heinous acts and I do sympathize with the victims of these shootings, if it really went down the way this movie depicts, then maybe audiences are right to feel sympathy for this kid.Final Thought: Whilst not as emotionally impactful as I would have liked it to be, "Blue Caprice" still packs a punch as a highly interesting dissection of a mutated father/son relationship, due to a combination of haunting performances from the two leads and some intriguing camera-work. So, between this and "Fruitvale Station", it has been a good few months for feature film directorial debuts.Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland