Appraisal: This film achieves its (not so easy) goal of showing the various aspects and views on the murder of a young man by two other young men at a small town in the U.S. Its approach is original, being like a dramatized documentary. It does not reenact the murder or the events that led to it; instead, it shows the filmmakers' experiences as they gather information about those events. It's very effective. It does not make for great filmmaking in my opinion, simply because it does not have such high ambitions. It is just a competently made film that sheds some light at the mentalities of the American people in the more conservative areas of the U.S.
There is one scene where an aspiring actor who gets a part in "Angels in America" is interviewed. I have not seen this play but anyone who reads the press knows that it does not have a condemnatory view on homosexuality. This actor's mother does not approve of her son being in such a play because homosexuality is seen as sinful by her religion. The actor argues that he was in 'Macbeth' earlier, and it is about murder, which is also sinful according to her religion, however his mom placed no objections to that. What he apparently fails to realize is that what his mom objects to is not the depiction of 'sin' in itself but how it is depicted. 'Macbeth' does not advocate the freedom to commit murder. "Angels in America", implicitly or explicitly, advocates the freedom for homosexuality. Lame reasoning won't succeed against bigotry.
Rating: 53
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