96% West of Memphis

All Critics (74) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (71) | Rotten (3)

What sets this film apart from previous efforts to document the story is that Jackson and Walsh financed a private investigative team with legal and forensic experts who re-examined old evidence, conducted new interviews and found new witnesses.

Happy, sad, inspiring, infuriating, right and terribly wrong, all at the same time.

Berg's film is as much an indictment of the state of Arkansas' legal system as it is the prosecution.

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.

Amy Berg's West of Memphis does bring new information to light, which is why this somewhat procedural feature is so important.

In all, the director has assembled a powerful film, but the celebrity component feels rather unnecessary.

A frankly extraordinary document about the three innocent children who were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas and the three innocent teenagers who spent 18 years in prison for the crime.

(Director Amy) Berg's doc is gripping, often infuriating, but in the end hopeful about the ability of truth and innocence to prevail thanks to the efforts of those who strive against all obstacles to uphold them.

The new film is largely a recap of the older ones, with more celebrity testimonials and fewer Metallica songs but little fresh insight into the miscarriage of justice it chronicles.

Extols the efforts of celebrities to win the release of three innocent men [and is] suspenseful when it's straightforward-the best CSI investigation that money can buy.

Nearly overwhelms you with hopelessness, if not an adrenaline rush of rage - even if you're familiar with the case.

It's a beautifully done piece of work in its own right, yet viewed beside the trilogy which preceded it, it comes across a bit like "Paradise Lost 3b - the Celebrity Edition."

A whodunit in which truth devastatingly becomes a luxury.

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

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

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