Project 52 Double Feature: 'Knuckleball!' and 'West of Memphis'

Posted Wednesday, September 11, 2013 at 6:07 AM Central
Last updated Wednesday, September 11, 2013 at 9:08 AM Central

by John Couture

So, this is one way that I hope to catch up on my Project 52s without clogging up the story feed with review after review. The old double feature is a tried and true film mechanism that worked both at theaters and then found its heyday at drive-in theaters from the 1950s and '60s.

Here we have two documentaries and I've sort of been watching a bunch of them of late. The only downside is that they are incredibly hard to review both comparatively and to other films from other genres.

What that means is the I found my documentary reviews to be rather short and circumspect. I'm sure as the reader, you find this to be welcome news, but it's not very good practice to have one word or two word reviews.

So, from time-to-time, I will post Project 52 Double Features that will attempt to pair up films that are similar or completely random. We shall see.

For now though, let's dig right in and see how it goes.

Knuckleball!/West of Memphis

I saw Knuckleball! right around the Fourth of July while I was up visiting my folks and it was a film that interested me because R.A. Dickey, who hails from Nashville, is featured in it. That and as a hockey goalie, I can certainly relate to knuckleball pitcher, who are also known to be a nutty bunch.

The film is a compelling watch even if you are not a fan of baseball as it deals mainly with the personal struggles of the two main pitchers. In today's world, the headlines scream about A Rod and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) so it's refreshing to get positive stories of players doing it the right way.

It's an inspiration and you really come to appreciate the grind of being someone who is valuable, but untouchable. The life of a knuckleballer is one that is uncertain and we can all relate to that.

In the end, it was a good, informative film, but it didn't blow my socks off. For that reason, I give it a Three of a Kind.

Now, West of Memphis on the other hand is a film that will stick with you for a long time. Produced by Peter Jackson and his longtime partner Fran Walsh, the film is a perfect example of what heights a documentary can strive to attain.

First and foremost, a documentary needs to be able to hold your attention and entertain. More often than not, they tend to get stuck in the minutiae and leave the audience bored.

Thankfully, West of Memphis is anything but boring. In fact, there is so much to this story that I was left feeling that the two and a half hour run time wasn't enough to do it justice.

For those of you that have somehow missed this story over the years, West of Memphis tells the story of three young boys who were brutally murdered in 1993 and the three teenagers who were eventually convicted of those murders. What starts out as a simple tragedy is anything but once the local authorities botch the investigation and trials in the case.

This film is a perfect study in the unfairness of justice and even what justice means. As the years go by, the state and original judge in the case refuses to hear new evidence or even consider the mounting evidence that seems to indicate that the three teens did not commit the crimes they were convicted of doing.

So, not only do have the horrible tragedy of three young boys losing their lives, but you also have the added injustice of three young men having their youth robbed from them. I'm going to be honest, there were a couple of tears shed in this film.

It's just horrible to think that these men may have been unfairly convicted and one of them almost executed for crimes that they did not commit. Even more horrible is the thought that the killer remains elusive to this day and will probably never come to justice.

The film is a powerful celebration of dogged determination and perseverance and a reminder that our judicial system is not fool-proof. At the end of the day, it's our responsibility to insure that something like this never happens again.

This film earns a Flush.