Time

This movie moved me to write my first review here. It wasn't perfect, yet I still felt compelled to give it 10 stars as it is so unique and special. It moved me to tears for the first time in ages. The final product, despite some minor flaws, is so powerful. Ignore the holy than thou negative reviews. They are from moralistic people who have no heart for human suffering and/or for people of color.

Is it a statement about the cruelty and indignities of the prison system? A love story of spouses separated by a jail sentence? A family's struggle for survival with an absent father? Well, it's some of all of these things, but the finished product fails to come together coherently into a cohesive whole. It's pointed, outspoken criticism is limited to a few noteworthy passionate outbursts, one of the picture's genuine strengths. It's up-close portrait of a family burdened is well-intentioned but weighed down by an excess of archival home movies and a jumbled mix of contemporary footage presented with little explanation, back story or context. And, in between, the sequences are linked by segments consisting of beautiful but pointless art house cinematography and long, lingering emotive shots, neither of which adds much other than presenting images that are pleasing to the eye. Director Garrett Bradley's latest has garnered considerable praise, as well as an Oscar nomination for best documentary feature, but, unfortunately, whatever the driving intention is here, it doesn't come through as clearly as it might have. Better editing and a sharper focus would have helped immensely, taking what assets the film does have and making them resonate more viscerally with the viewing audience.

In the early 90s, Fox Rich and her husband robbed a credit union. She got out of jail after a few years, while he was sentenced for 60 years. This documentary is primarily a profile of Fox and her resilience, determination and love while raising 6 sons and struggling for her husband’s release. With the exception of her sons, almost nobody else is interviewed or featured. Luckily for the director, Fox shot her own video that helped chronicle her fight and her family. The filmmaker shot additional footage that expands her process. While the camera lingers on Fox’s face for much of the film, we seldom get much insight into her feelings (she only cries once). Also, much of the chronology and details of the circumstances are omitted, making it hard to follow. Despite the heart-breaking situation of this woman and her family, the film feels objective and never achieves a strong emotional effect that the story should engender.

Весь фильм вертится вокруг того, что как же сложно семье жить без отца, который, ну подумаешь, попытался совершить вооружённое ограбление банка вместе с женой и братом. И полтора часа фильм пытается убедить зрителя, что сажать в тюрьму за преступления - расизм. И что сам факт тюрем - расизм. Потому что чёрные чаще совершают преступления, а значит чаще сидят, а значит вся тюремная система сделана чтобы издеваться над чёрными... Такое вот кино.

They committed an armed robbery, threatening people's lives, to get the money to start a hip hop clothing store. 60 years is a long sentence, it should have been 20 years or so. He definitely deserved to go to jail, and so did his wife. This documentary lacks objectivity. It pulls on the heartstrings, trying to create sympathy for the subjects, but it ignores the seriousness of what they did. It also promotes, without scrutiny, the insane leftist idea of prison abolition.