Such a frustrating disappointment

Simply Perfect

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This review is more about the plot than how well the documentary was filmed. It does not even matter whether Ryan was guilty or not. According to the documentary and Wikipedia there was absolutely no evidence to charge him with the crime. He should not have been jailed at all but unfortunately mistakes happen; however he should have definitely been freed as soon as pretty much all the witnesses confessed to perjury. The county in this case behaved like a mob covering up for its members. It is amazing that something like that can happen here, in the US. I wonder how many more innocent people are behind the bars.

It's hard not to start this review without expressing the belief that Judge (then prosecutor) Kevin Crane coerced false, as well as purposely suppressed, testimony in the murder case against Ryan Ferguson. Next would be additionally how the court failed the family of Kent Heiholt as the person, or persons, responsible for his death remain at large.Normally the victim's injustice would be my main concern except for the fact the life of Ryan Ferguson was irreparably damaged by the inexcusable actions perpetrated deliberately by prosecutor Crane, not to mention the manipulated fabrications devised by the police interrogators. This was a travesty of justice all around compounded by Ferguson's original attorney being totally inept.The above sets the stage for an excellent documentary about an extraordinary case whose final outcome would be shaped by two quite amazing individuals. Ryan's father Bill Ferguson, who qualifies as quite possibly the most devoted father imaginable even before his son's travails, after which he took his devotion to a whole other level.. His post Ryan's conviction life mission was to work until his son, whom he knew to be innocent, was freed. He, along with lawyer extraordinare Kathleen Zellner, did the impossible: reversing a staid and entrenched court's ironclad decision. This was accomplished by repeatedly (it took more than one appeal) exposing the corrupt nature of the original conviction - completely showing the malfeasance with manufactured testimony and suppressed evidence. Don't believe this can happen in today's law and judicial system? Watch this to be appalled and enlightened. It's important we, as a society, learn from unspeakable wrongs like this so moving forward our standards are set much higher. Dream/Killer is a recommended watch as it sticks to facts and lets the chips fall based only on facts. In this regard it is an important film which due to the fact it is made so well is eminently watchable.

Not sure weather it's me, or the times (most likely,the times), but documentaries seem so much different now than from what I remember. With Media being so much more apart of our lives than ever before, it makes it even easier to weave a doc that acts like a movie plot narrative.Case in point, Dream/Killer is focused on Bill Ferguson, whose son, Ryan was convicted of murder. Knowing his son well and after seeing what happen during his trial, Bill is certain that his son got a bum rap and spends the next ten years obsessing over the case so much that he is able to find the holes Ryan's trail fell into in order to get a retrial. It was laid out like an intense drama. They set up the events of the story first, then we really got to know Bill as a character, and they make us understand his determination, which makes the suspense of the movie even better, cause I could have just looked up on Google what happen before the film was over, but the documentary builds an investment in wanting to see how they unfold the hold thing It's a lot like this movie Conviction with Hillary Swank and Sam Rockwell where a single mother becomes a lawyer to get smart enough to get her brother out of a lifetime sentence. Conviction was based on a true story, but I guess that story happen before Trails were video taped, one hundred news channels existed to cover one story, and everyone had a camera on their phone to post something online. Dream/Killer had all those elements, and what ever they did not have to tell the narrative with is when they used animation, like when Ryan tell us what it was like to spend 10 years in prison, animation is fairly popular in contemporary docs, And of course, they used an age old documentary trick... Interviews from those who witness the events unravel first hand.As a contemporary style documentary, it was done very basic and average, but that's good cause it let nothing distract it from the amazing story of a father's determination and love of his son.Great crime drama!