Release Date: 1/27/2004 Original Release: 2003 Format: DVD Length: 107 minutes Rating:Not Rated Rating Reason: (Reason unavailable) UPC: 026359227820 Studio: Warner Home Video
Watching Andrew Jarecki's riveting non-fiction drama is like watching a slow-motion replay of a multi-car pileup; you know it's headed for disaster, but there's no way you can stop watching. On the surface, the Friedmans were a typical 1980s American family. Living in Great Neck, Long Island, Arnold was a well-respected teacher, Elaine was a dedicated mother, and their children Seth, Jesse, and David were model students. But one Thanksgiving, that happy façade came to a crashing halt. After the local police discovered Arnold had engaged in the buying and selling of child pornography, they questioned several students who attended his computer classes in the Friedman basement. What they revealed would shock the community, and destroy the Friedman family forever. The subsequent investigation and trial uncovered even deeper hidden secrets at an alarming rate, creating a rift between Arnold and Elaine that would never be reconciled. Jarecki uses present day interviews with Elaine, Jesse, and David, as well as Arnold's brother Howard, to provide some sort of insight on the situation, but it backfires, for everyone has a different story to tell. And then there is actual home video footage of the family in the midst of the hurricane, which gives the film an eerie, voyeuristic charge.
DVD Features
2-Disc Set Region 1 Snap Case Widescreen - 1.85 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Additional Release Material: Additional Feature: 1. Andrew Jarecki Short Film that Inspired the Feature Interviews: Charlie Rose with Andrew Jarecki - Director Featurette: Jesse Friedman's Life Today New Case Evidence Bonus Footage: 1. An Altercation at the Premiere 2. Unseen Home Video Footage
Almost as devastating as Irreversible, but all real. An extremely powerful depiction of the deterioration of a family and the ambiguities of the U.S. legal system. After watching the film, I'm still... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
Posted on October 21, 2006
Reviewed by: Seth C
People lie. Children lie, adults lie and people lie. That's life. In Andrew Jarecki's documentary "Capturing The Friedmans," we see a family literally ripped apart through new interview footage and... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
