Waste of time

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

An excellent documentary, "The Thin Blue Line" presents the murder of a Dallas police officer, and the resulting conviction of his supposed killer - "supposed" being a *nice* way of putting it. There was no evidence, and the eyewitnesses that Dallas PD relied on were farcical. Randall Adams was subjected to police intimidation, a laughable trial and twelve years in prison. The details of the case are enough to wish shame on the system, yet this is one of the most fascinating documentaries I've seen in forever. There's a hypnotic quality to this film, from Philip Glass' melancholy score to Errol Morris' expert use of imagery - an overturned Burger King cup, the Ben-Day dots of a zoomed-in newspaper photograph - simple and mundane visuals, perfectly stages for maximum impact. I found myself getting lost in the film's aesthetic, even as one talking head after another offers realistic testimony. If I didn't know that this film had an effect on the case, then it'd remain a monumental tragedy of injustice. It's horrible that an officer had to lose his life in a senseless act, but at least the wrong guy isn't being punished.8/10

I'm not going to knock the incredible injustice. The story itself is not boring it's just the way they told which was dull, it just put me to sleep. They also repeatedly showed reenactments of the crime. I keep thinking something different is going to happen from the last time they showed it but no. I don't get why they had to keep showing the same thing over and over. Even those telling the story kept repeating what they'd already said. I am sure this could have been made into a 30 minute documentary if everything wasn't repeated. I really struggled to stay awake watching this. I am very surprised it's got such a high rating. The only positive I can say is it will probably make a good movie.

A film that successfully argued that a man (Randall Dale Adams) was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.Morris was originally going to film a documentary about prosecution psychiatrist, Dr. James Grigson, known as Doctor Death, who testified in more than 100 trials that resulted in death sentences. In almost every instance, Dr. Grigson would, after examining a defendant, testify that he had found the individual in question to be an incurable sociopath, who it was "one hundred per cent certain" would kill again.This lead Morris to find an example, Adams, where this "incurable sociopath" status was in doubt. But we also still have that critique of Grigson -- we see what he said about Adams, a man with no history of criminal acts or violence, after only fifteen minutes with him.This change in focus lead to a better film, most likely (though Erroll Morris has an incredible track record for good documentaries). We now get to see a wider picture of eyewitness testimony, the prejudice of the area (which includes a thriving KKK) and more.Adams' case was reviewed and he was released from prison approximately a year after the film's release. Now that is the sign of a powerful film, and what makes documentaries so great.

The Thin Blue Line (1988) **** (out of 4) This excellent documentary from Errol Morris features more drama than any crime movie that Hollywood could make up in their minds. This film traces the story of a murdered police officer and the arrest of Randall Dale Adams who was convicted of the crime even though most of the evidence pointed to David Harris. Through some questionable witnesses Adams was sentenced to a life term but Morris interviews him and Harris as well as the witnesses as he tries to tell what really happened. THE THIN BLUE LINE is about as perfect as a documentary can get and a lot of credit must go to Morris for the style he brought to the story. Not only do we get interviews for the majority of those involved, the director also adds some re-enactments and I really loved how he used newspaper listings to back up certain parts of the story. Just one example of this is that the men went to see a drive-in movie and Morris shows up the advertisement from the paper showing that the movies were playing. The real drama comes from the fact that everything seems to say that Adams is innocent and the only reason he was brought to trial was because people were lying. Just hearing from the "witnesses" as they talk about the lies they're telling is something so tense that you really couldn't get the same level of suspense from a made up movie. Knowing that real lives were involved in the story just makes it all the more personal and all the more dramatic. THE THIN BLUE LINE is perfectly crafted and there's no question that the story being told grabs you right from the start and never lets you go.