Have you ever wondered why some of my reviews seem so personal ?

The answer would explain my addiction to coming of age movies  -- and it is as simple as saying that I have been through similar experiences to the characters in the movie I review.  It`s not always my experience -- sometimes it is the experience of someone I knew well -- well enough to help me associate with the actors on screen and what they go trough.

That being said I am going to tell you that my review of  The Interrogation of Michael Crowe is going to be one of those personal reviews. The film is a true masterpiece and is  based on  real people and events  -  I have seen scenes with my own eyes that closely resemble the events shown in the film.

The Interrogation of Michael Crowe is the second feature film produced by Court TV. It focuses on the plight of 14-year-old Michael Crowe .  One morning his younger sister is found murdered in her bed. The police officers decided to accuse Michael for the murder of his sister after seeing things in his room such as the game ” Final fantasy 7″ and drawings from ” Dungeons and Dragons “  . Michael was cruelly interrogated for 11 straight hours . The police used variety of  scare tactics to get a confession from the confused boy -- they lied to him and got what they wanted …

If I am to categorize this film -- I would say that is was an extremely heavy and hard to watch  psychological drama. Numerous scenes of interrogation of Michael distinguishes hard rhythm and dynamics of verbal pressure which would have an influence on its viewers.  First thing you will notice when watching this movie is the brilliant acting .   I don`t recall knowing another movie in which the entire cast is so well selected and flawless on screen. Mark Rendall who played the role of the 14 years old Michel Crow deserves a special recognition as his portrayal of the intensity of emotions Crow felt in the interrogation room was next to perfect.  I would like to quote few extracts from an interview transcript in which the real Michel Crow and Mark Rendall answered questions about the story and the movie itself :

“ Question from Respectful: Mark, was it frightening to be questioned so intensely even though it was just an acting role for you?

Mark Rendall: Yes it was. The people playing the interrogators, the police officers, were very believable. And it was really scary sitting in a room all by myself with just these people in the scene. It actually felt real, though I can never really know what it would be like.

Michael Crowe: You can see it in his acting. You can see that he has some of the real emotions going on inside of him.

Question from RUSTY: Michael, does Mark do a good job being you in the movie?

Michael Crowe: Yes. I think he did a great job. Going into this it was a big question whether they’d find an actor who could really capture this. And up until the point when I actually saw him act, say some of this lines, I didn’t think they’d be able to find anyone I didn’t think anyone would be able to be that young and be able to act well enough to capture the role.“                           ^{the entire transcript  at the Court TV web page )}

Marc Rendall also appears in movies such as The Impossible Elephant,Tales From the Neverending Story,Touching Wild Horses and Child Star. For his performance in the Interrogation of Michael Crowe he received received an 2004 ACTRA nomination for Best Actor.

I suggest that  you  watch the clip below which has real footage from the The Interrogation with the commentary of an expert. Be warned that those scenes are as harsh to watch as the movie itself -- if even more.

In another interview to the question “How accurate does this film portray what actually happened?” -- Michael answers : “Very accurately. All the stuff in the interrogation room is actually from the videotapes, from the transcripts.“( source)  You can only imagine…

Few years ago a boy I know well had to go trough a similar torture -- as I found out later from his relatives he was questioned without their presence. At one point the policeman threatened to throw him out of the window if he doesn`t cooperate with them and tell them what they wanted to hear. Eventually as in the movie they got what they wanted and as a result the lives of several people became as miserable as they could get . 3 years later the parents managed to prove that the content of the document that boy signed was invented by the police and had had nothing to do with the truth. The film resembled a similar situation so closely -- that I felt deeply distressed while watching it.  That is why I told you at the beging of this review that it is going to be the kind of personal review I sometimes write.

The case of Michael Crowe is detailed described as a case study published at   D. Kim Rossmo`s book Criminal Investigative Failures and in G. Daniel Lassiter`s book  -- Interrogations, Confessions, and Entrapment. ( I have linked to google book`s public preview ) .

Detailed news coverage can also be found in Court TV page Who killed Stephanie Crowe.  More information can be obtained from the SignofSanDiego coverage of the case.

To summarize -- if I was to describe the film with one word -- that would would be : Brilliant!!!!!

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Michael Crowe: “I think anyone who comes into contact with this story really is going to have some aspect of their views changed.”

 The Interrogation of Michael Crowe Audio Review: Play Now | Play in Popup