5/20/15

3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets

This prize-winning documentary (Audience Choice Award Best Documentary - RiverRun Film Festival; Special Jury Prize Documentary - Sundance Film Festival), based on a horrific incident on the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) in 2012, tells us about four boys coming from a mall where they bought sneakers. They stop at a gas station and one goes in to buy a soda and a pack of gum. A woman who dropped in to buy a bottle of wine inadvertently witnesses the melee. When it's over a 17-year-old boy is dead.

Director Marc Silver, through trial footage, surveillance film, interviews, news clips, and even phone calls from prison, dissects this tragedy that was triggered by an argument over rap music.

We see:
  • Jordan's mother, Lucia McBath, is hoping for closure.
  • His father, Ron Davis, still can't believe Jordan is dead.
  • His friend, Leland Brunson, was in the car when it happened.
  • Another friend, Tommie Stomes, saw the whole thing go down.
  • Circuit Court Judge Russell Healey is determined the court room will maintain decorum.
  • State Attorney Angela B. Corey, we hear her voice but I don't remember her face.
  • Assistant State Attorney John Guy had made an agreement with the Defense team that race would never once be mentioned. It wasn't!
  • Defense Attorney Cory Strolla insists that Jordan had a big mouth but he didn't have a weapon.
  • Neither the white defendant nor his fiancĂ©e are named in the roster for this movie at SIFF, nor on the IMDb page. Subtle clue as to bias....
I felt soiled watching this, like an avid ambulance chaser eager to see blood, tears and raw emotions. The paparazzi had set up a literal village outside the courthouse, complete with satellite dishes! Sensation Seekers, ALL!

Shame on every one!