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The Thin Blue Line (1988)

Director: Errol Morris

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Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Documentarist-extraordinary Morris' original and delightfully bizarre slice of investigative film-journalism attempts, successfully, to set the record straight about one Randall Adams, imprisoned in 1976 for the murder of a Dallas cop. It is also a philosophical thesis on problems of knowledge and truth, which uses highly stylised dramatic reconstructions of the crime to offer a multitude of perspectives on what really happened, and a darkly comic, nightmarish study in self-delusion and deception. The legal figures and witnesses Morris interviews are transparently weird, shifty, obsessive and unreliable. Indeed, the movie - immaculately structured, beautifully shot, sensitively scored by Philip Glass - is a poignant and hilarious essay on oddball America. Morris' skill in suggesting that Adams' original trial involved at best a miscarriage of justice, at worst corruption, ensures that the audience becomes a surrogate jury. The film provokes sadness, anger, relief, admiration, and wonder; enjoy it, and worry.

Author: GA 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

  • fred truby said...
    Posted on Aug 15 2007 22:04 Whether the film is true to the documentary form or not, it is a captivating and revealing look at the failings of the crminal justice system in this country. No less revealing is the true-to-life portrayal of an American sub-cullture which is poor, unambitious, and disconected.
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Cast & crew

Director: Errol Morris

Producer: Mark Lipson

Cast: Randall Adams, David Harris, Edith James, Dennis White, Don Metcalfe full cast

Genre(s): Documentaries

Duration: 101 mins

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