Redundant and unnecessary.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

It is good that this picture exists. Don't get me wrong. John Cazale was one of the purest "character" actors of his generation. But Cazale is due something much longer and more comprehensive than the mere 40 minutes he is allotted here. It covers just enough in 40 minutes but it will undoubtedly leave any viewer wanting more--quite a parallel to a fantastic life and career cut short.

Unfortunately this one here was fairly short just like Cazale's life. Actually, in terms of minutes, it's almost than the age that he had in years when he succumbed to his cancer. The director is Richard Shepard and he won an Emmy and DGA award for directing the pilot episode of "Ugly Betty". Right now, he is mostly working on "Girls". So with female central characters in these two, this documentary is exactly the opposite. It tells us about the great late actor John Cazale, who would have turned 80 this year. I like that there is no real narration in this documentary, but that we get basically all the information from interviewees. And there is a healthy mix too. Some of these are people who worked with Cazale in his films, such as De Niro, Pacino, Hackman, Coppola... and of course Meryl Streep who was his girlfriend back in the 1970s. Others are actors who did not, but who were greatly inspired by his talent, such as Steve Buscemi, who always reminded me a bit of Cazale, and Sam Rockwell. Some people say Cazale has the most perfect body of work in film history and that's certainly a possibility. There is no real flaw in everything he acted. Another thing that is very good in this documentary is that it is not a problem if you haven't seen all his classics. There are no real spoilers in here, so you can enjoy this documentary nonetheless. And I hope you will enjoy it was much as I did. Highly recommended.

I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale (2009) **** (out of 4)Excellent documentary covering the five films that John Cazale made during his short life. THE GODFATHER, THE CONVERSATION, THE GODFATHER PART II, DOG DAY AFTERNOON and THE DEER HUNTER are discussed in regards to how Cazale got the parts as well as what he did with them. I think it says a lot about how much people cared for him when you see the names that turned out to be interviewed for this 40-minute documentary. Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Gene Hackman, Francis Ford Coppola, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Brett Ratner, Sidney Lumet, Sam Rockwell, Carol Kane, John Savage and Steve Buscemi are among the group gathered for the interviews. That's a mighty impressive list to discuss a man who only appeared in five movies but it's clear that they all loved working with this man. There are countless great stories told about Cazale not only in the movies but also his time on the stage. We hear a few details about his early life but mostly we stick to his movies. We get clips from each of them as people talk about what made the scene so special and how they felt Cazale was able to make those around him so much better. Pacino tells a great story about how Cazale would start scenes on DOG DAY AFTERNOON and it's quite funny. There's also talk about him meeting Streep and marrying her, which of course leads to a discussion on his lung cancer and death at such a young age. The title using "rediscovering" is perfectly used because if you're not familiar with Cazale then this documentary does a great job at making you see why he was so special. If you're familiar with these five films then watching this will just make you want to see them again.

Just watched this doc on HBO even though short it was informative, moving, and a nice tribute to a fallen great that many people don't remember. Unless your probably a major film buff or historian you don't remember John Cazale. Yet Cazale was a good supporting player on many of the historical film classics of the 70's as with his help each film that he appeared in "The Godfather", "Godfather II", "The Conversation", "Dog Day Afternoon", and "The Deer Hunter" all received academy award nominations for best picture. The doc also tells of his humble start on Broadway as a struggling actor as he worked his way up to get noticed. Interviews and insights are given from greats like Steve Buscemi, Coppola, De Niro, Dreyfuss, Sidney Lumet, Al Pacino, and Gene Hackman. Also revealing and touching is the interview with the great Meryl Streep who had a brief romance with John on the set of his last film "The Deer Hunter"(1978), this is when Cazale would learn he was eat up with bone cancer and die shortly thereafter. Touching tribute that was overdue and it educated and informed many who didn't know anything about John Cazale as it showed if he had lived as to what might have been.