97% West of Memphis

All Critics (63) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (61) | Rotten (2)

Berg's film helps illuminate a case that should certainly be the shame of the state of Arkansas, and perhaps the criminal justice system of the entire United States.

Dubious evidence; suspicious confessions; conveniently located "poor white trash" (Echols' words) to take the rap: The case stank from the beginning, Berg's film argues.

Less an investigative report than a portrait of the community that forms around an ongoing court case, this conveys a patient understanding of the intricacies of law and human behavior that may be termed Kieslowskian.

"West of Memphis" is the fourth film about one of the most heinous cases of wrongful conviction in American judicial history. Do we need a fourth film? Yes, I think we do.

It artfully sketches out the events for anyone who's coming in cold, but basically, its strategy is to take what we already know and go deeper.

Conspicuous in their absence, the directors of the "Paradise Lost" documentaries, the filmmakers who did more than anyone else to keep this story of injustice alive for nearly 20 years...

A whodunit in which truth devastatingly becomes a luxury.

New evidence and a fresh perspective keep the subject matter compelling.

Filmmaker Amy Berg (Oscar nominated Deliver Us From Evil) has once again struck documentary gold with her hard-hitting journalistic feature, West of Memphis.

A lot of it is treading on ground that's been laid by other people, but there's a lot of great new stuff, too.

The infuriating facts in this famous case are illuminated with new human detail.

Diligent, complex and justly indignant.

The case presented in West of Memphis is damning, most of all for a bungling local police department and ambitious local officials who wanted the case solved and chose to overlook obvious suspects...

A worthwhile appendix to the West Memphis Three case.

An extraordinary story told with utter conviction but not without a certain sympathy for the court of public opinion - which wrecked the chance of proper justice for the accused for so long.

If you've seen the 'Paradise Lost' trilogy on the case, 'West of Memphis' will be a must. If not, it's even more so.

[West of Memphis] is a captivating albeit disturbing look at failed justice and the search for the truth... do not miss this film!

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/west_of_memphis/

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