This is a solid documentary. As long as you don't expect it to explain tricks like an episode of Myth Busters (which it doesn't claim to do) and you come to this subject with general knowledge (an average viewer), then I can fully recommend the film. It covers 4 to 5 main subjects --which is a lot to handle-- so critiques that the doc didn't go "deep enough" aren't relevant when considering the scope, and this movie has plenty of depth to it. More than I expected. It seems that the sour reviewers here mirror some of the very same jaded and cynical traits that they criticize.
I thought what this movie showed was brave. It felt like an honest, real edit. There are plenty of scenes that would never make it into a reality TV show because they don't fit into TV's simple dramatic themes. There are issues that are both dark and subtle (that don't necessarily have a satisfying made-for-TV resolution). But that's what sets apart a good documentary from a cheap TV show. The filmmakers couldn't have known how each character's life was going to play out, and they seemed to represent it honestly.
The reviewer who rated this movie a "1" is doing an even larger disservice to the film than the reviewers he suspects are fake (which are few). And his history is more biased than these supposed "fake reviewers" as well, given that a "1" is his third most common score (after a "10" and a "9" respectively).
It's such a shame that the message boards were taken away. I've seen several movies since then that I would've really liked to discuss (not tweet about).
I thought what this movie showed was brave. It felt like an honest, real edit. There are plenty of scenes that would never make it into a reality TV show because they don't fit into TV's simple dramatic themes. There are issues that are both dark and subtle (that don't necessarily have a satisfying made-for-TV resolution). But that's what sets apart a good documentary from a cheap TV show. The filmmakers couldn't have known how each character's life was going to play out, and they seemed to represent it honestly.
The reviewer who rated this movie a "1" is doing an even larger disservice to the film than the reviewers he suspects are fake (which are few). And his history is more biased than these supposed "fake reviewers" as well, given that a "1" is his third most common score (after a "10" and a "9" respectively).
It's such a shame that the message boards were taken away. I've seen several movies since then that I would've really liked to discuss (not tweet about).