Casting JonBenet is a Netflix documentary centered around the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, a 6 year old girl who was killed in her home on the night of December 25th, 1996. Though there are suspects as to who killed the little girl, no arrest has been made to this day. There are many theories and speculations of the people in the town of Boulder, Colorado and many other people who have heard about the murder. I watched this documentary after watching the trailer in class and wanting to know more about it. I didn't exactly go in with an open mind, since I had already heard a review saying that it was anticlimactic and disappointing. Still interested, I wanted to get my own take on it.
For the most part, I agree that this documentary is disappointing and not very informative. Most documentaries on murders provide more information on victim and their back story, their relationships with friends and family, and what they were like. They show clips, pictures, videos, and tons of more detail, so the viewers really feels like they are getting a real inside look on the victim's life. They also go in depth about theories on who killed the victim at length. The documentary did touch on all of these things, but not nearly as in depth as I had expected or hoped for. I felt like the entire film was just actors being interviewed and then sharing how they knew about just as much as I did, and I didn't know anything. The ending was the most disappointing part, because you are still sitting there with a million unanswered questions. I wish this story was a Nightline episode instead of a Netflix documentary, because although the artistic approach that the filmmakers went for for this film is creative, it frustrated me and made me just want some real answers. There are a lot of reasons to dislike this film, but I also found some reasons to semi-enjoy it. As mentioned before, the way this documentary was filmed was annoying, but I also sort of admired it. I thought it was a very interesting take on a documentary on the murder of a little girl. I found the interviews of the actors fascinating, even though it didn't give me very much insight, it was interesting to hear their takes on it and also relating it to stories from their own life. The actresses' different takes on how to portray Patsy Ramsey based on whether they thought she was the murderer or not was entertaining. My favorite scene of the whole film was towards the end, when the camera moved from room to room with all of the actors doing their scenes together and seeing their different ways of telling the story. It showed the complexity of the situation of this family, from the tension in the parents' marriage life to Patsy's interactions with JonBenet and her brother. Overall, this movie was a 4/10. I appreciated the creativity of it, but that did not outweigh the annoyance of not knowing anything more about JonBenet's death after watching it. If it provided 10 times more information of JonBenet's life, her relationship with Patsy and her father, and just an overall more in depth analysis of the death, I would have liked it a lot more. Instead, it was just a montage of people talking about what they thought and their theories. After feeling just general annoyance and confusion after watching this film, I wouldn't really recommend it.
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AuthorCasey Land Archives
January 2018
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