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| The American flag appears defeated as painted onto an eerily dripping black glove on this poignant poster for Ezra Edelman's O.J.: Made in America |
From social housing in San Francisco came a young man of color with an athletic gift for sports, American football and a charisma that took the country by storm and seemed to sing the hopeful promise that race wasn't everything. His later crimes, however, brought the issue back into debate.
O.J.: Made in America is an overwhelming 5-part documentary by Bay Stater master filmmaker Ezra Edelman (Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals (2010, TV documentary)), whose 2nd feature it is.
The film takes the omnibus approach to the notorious sportsman, celebrity and convict, O.J. Simpson. It is an extremely thorough and well-researched work with clips and testimonies from a vast selection of the people whose lives were changed by 'the Juice', O.J.'s idolizing moniker. Beginning as a sports biography, it turns more into a historical-political film, before it turns into true-crime and then in the end a portrait of personal fiasco. It is all pertinent as a portrayal of the larger societal implications of the remarkable man and his long journey into night.
During the film's racial Los Angeles-focused historical part I wondered what the connection to O.J. was going to be, SPOILER but that became nauseatingly clear during the portion about O.J.'s double murder trial for the offing of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman, in which O.J.'s defense team's Johnny Cochran and Co. succeeded in getting an amoral racial vice on the trial to lead to the horrendous acquittal of the double-murderer - and a resulting jubilation among a segment of black America, highlighting the country's division. Morally bankruptcy defines O.J.'s defense attorney Carl E. Douglas, who appears a tasteless, suit-wearing villain in a league of his own here.
O.J.'s own hero-like persona and disguised demonic side are simultaneously deeply fascinating and eerie. Edelman also allows the 'black-in-America' racial discussion to take up space to a degree where its aimlessness sickens, - appropriately so, - because it simply devours everything it comes into contact with, - and ultimately gives nothing in return. Gary Lionelli (Least Among Saints (2012)) has made a fabulous, emotionally driving score. O.J.: Made in America is a terribly captivating film.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 5 mil. $
Box office: None - primarily a TV release
= Uncertain
[O.J.: Made in America premiered 22 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 467 minutes. After Brett Morgen did June 17, 1994 (2010, TV documentary) for ESPN's 30 for 30 sports documentary series, strictly about the O.J. murder trial, it was decided that a longer documentary on the man was appropriate. Edelman spent 18 months working on it, interviewing 72 subjects on camera. A three-part 5 hour format was eventually scrapped when Edelman came back with a 5-part 7.5 hour film, which was embraced by ESPN. The film premiered on ABC (part I) on June 11, with the following 4 parts following on ESPN from June 14-18. The film was only shown theatrically very few times due to its extreme length. It won the Best Documentary Oscar as the longest nominated film ever, prompting the rules to subsequently bar multi-part and limited series documentaries from eligibility. It also won 2/6 Emmys, an AFI award, an Independent Spirit award, a National Board of Review award and many other honors. Edelman returned with Ted Lasso (2021, TV-series) but has otherwise turned to executive producing. O.J.: Made in America is certified fresh at 100 % with a 9.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of O.J.: Made in America?
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