Without a doubt a disconcertingly engrossing, difficult-to-shake experience.
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07/25/03
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Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
97
%
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Reviews Counted:38
Fresh:37
Rotten:1
Average Rating:8.4/10
Consensus: A haunting depiction of a disintegrating family, and a powerful argument on the elusiveness of truth.
Theatrical Release:May 30, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $2,794,120
Synopsis: Watching Andrew Jarecki's riveting non-fiction drama is like watching a slow-motion replay of a multi-car pileup; you know it's headed for disaster, but there's no way you can stop watching. On the... [More]
Starring: Arnold Friedman, David Friedman, Elaine Friedman, Seth Friedman
Director: Andrew Jarecki
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Reviews for Capturing the Friedmans
Top CriticDisturbing, yet undeniably fascinating.
07/25/03
Top CriticIt takes the concept of reality television and twists it into a shocking but poignant art form.
07/25/03
Top CriticThe MPAA doesn't have a rating for queasy-making and heartbreaking. If it did, then Capturing the Friedmans would carry an advisory.
07/22/03
Top CriticA documentary you won't be able to shake.
07/19/03
Top CriticAn experience you will never forget.
07/11/03
Top CriticClick to read the article
06/26/03
Top CriticA disquieting documentary about a disturbing incident.
06/26/03
Top CriticWhat the Osbournes are to farce, the Friedmans are to tragicomedy.
06/20/03
Top CriticWhere so many 'reality' shows shrink a subject down to snug, humiliating form, Friedmans takes the opposite approach.
06/19/03
Top CriticA prime candidate for a time capsule, to disclose a century hence the current state of some of our civilization's discontents, including the ability to be convinced that one is telling the truth even when one is lying.
06/18/03
Top CriticIn the end, while Jarecki may not be able to answer our most basic questions about the guilt or innocence of the Friedmans, he makes a profound statement that, in situations like this, no one can be completely innocent and everyone is a victim.
06/17/03
Top CriticIt leaves us puzzling, long after the film has ended, about the Friedmans' strange family dynamics, about the justice system and community that condemned them, about the elusive nature of 'truth.'
06/13/03
Top CriticAn incredibly provocative, fascinating film that is about the way one eccentric family faced an intolerable crisis and the confounding wheels of justice.
06/13/03
Top CriticJarecki has created a tour de force of narrative ambiguity, and in doing so has made one of the most honest reality shows ever.
06/13/03
Top CriticA devastating and tragic tale of one suburban family's meltdown as played out on the 6 o'clock news and in private home videos.
06/13/03
Top CriticAs an investigation into the psychology and processes of witch-hunts, Capturing the Friedmans is one of the most valuable film documents we've had since Carl Dreyer's 1943 Day of Wrath.
06/13/03
Top CriticNot since Memento has a movie served up such a provocative mind-bender, and the Sundance winner by first-time filmmaker Andrew Jarecki has the advantage of being true.
06/12/03
Top CriticThis is finally a particularly naked and invasive form of voyeurism, The Real World for the PBS crowd.
06/12/03
Top CriticA movie that will haunt you for months to come.
06/12/03
Top CriticLatest News for Capturing the Friedmans
July 26, 2006:
Magnolia Digs Into the Crayon Box
You probably know Magnolia Pictures as the distributor of foreign/arthouse fare like "District B13," "Bubble," and "Capturing the Friedmans" -- but... More...
September 10, 2003:
Andrew Jarecki's first go is golden. 
More...
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