CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 2003 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 (out of ****)
In 1987, around Thanksgiving, Arnold "Arnie" Friedman, a respected high school science teacher from the affluent, upper middle class Jewish community of Great Neck, New York along with his 18-year-old son Jesse were accused of--and subsequently pleaded guilty to--more than 40 counts of child molestation. These unlawful sexual assaults on teenage boys purportedly took place during computer classes taught by Arnie in the basement of the Friedman's Long Island home, a home that had recently been searched for--and subsequently uncovered--child pornography as part of a United States Postal Service sting operation. Andrew Jarecki's engrossing yet disturbing documentary "Capturing the Friedmans" starts out rather uninspired--the principals, especially hapless mother Elaine, are not especially engaging--but slowly draws us in with its quiet observations of suburban "normalcy." What makes this film unique, however, is its use of home movie footage. The Friedmans recorded themselves on videotape while the shattering events of their lives were unfolding, and we are witness to it. What's surprising is that nothing particularly incriminating is revealed during these sequences--more often than not these scenes simply capture the Friedmans fighting over dinner, with Arnie uniformly silent while his wife has passive-aggressive hysterics. Middle son Seth declined to be interviewed for the film but eldest son David and the convicted Jesse contribute much via talking mug shots. If one thing is clear it's that nothing is clear. Jarecki chooses, as do most fine documenters, not to force his opinions on his audience, instead balancing the "facts" between damaging word-of-mouth testimony of victims, parents, and prosecutors (there is an inescapable lack of physical evidence that is hard to reconcile) with the Friedman's initial proclamation of innocence (it is later revealed that Arnie pleaded guilty to save Jesse, and Jesse pleaded guilty to reduce what would otherwise have been a multi-lifetime prison sentence to "6-18 years"). "Capturing the Friedmans" exposes that elusive divide between truth and lies and does so harrowingly. This is a film that's as difficult to watch as it is to dismiss.
-- David N. Butterworth dnb@dca.net
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