Capturing the Friedmans

Capturing the Friedmans

1-19-10

Many films of this type (fiction or otherwise) ultimately boil down to a kind of David and Goliath scenario where you root for the little guy and hiss (thats right hiss) at bad guy or rather "the man" (evil cops and or evil corporation aka persecutors). Well our "David" here is a admitted pedophile who confessed to the crimes he says he didn't commit and his son (aka partner in crime if you believe the cops)  also confesses to said crimes he says he didn't commit. The cops aren't all that righteous either as it appears they over stepped their bounds and jumped to conclusions in several areas. Though its hard to view them as complete villainous persecutors given the situation. Ultimately for me this film ends up being less about guilt or innocence and more about the nature of truth. Can a man be "innocent" of a crime and confess to said crime? If a man has done bad things in his past does that mean we should immediately assume he's guilty of present day crimes? Its all pretty complicated and the film doesn't pretend to give answers. I could easily see people watching the film and hating the Friedmans or siding with them....thats why this is a good film.