The Thin Blue Line

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Star Review

One of the most remarkable of all American documentaries, a substantial theatrical hit long before non-fiction became a regular box-office draw, and the source of major controversy not just for its real-life (and death) subject matter but also its perceived snub by the Oscars after it failed to secure even a nomination for Best Documentary, Errol Morris's film is a complete one-off. It's a masterly dissection of the circumstances of the killing of a cop and a forensic demonstration of the probable innocence of Randall Dale Adams, the Death Row inhabitant initially convicted of the crime. While making the film, former private investigator Morris gathered such a mountain of clinching evidence that even the notoriously trigger-happy Texas authorities were persuaded to reopen the case and ultimately exonerate him. But this is no sensationalised True Crime exposé – what makes the film so riveting is its unnervingly cool, controlled visual style, pulsing Philip Glass score and Rashomon-like presentation of multiple viewpoints, leading to a genuinely breath-catching moment when the real killer effectively confesses to the crime.

Michael Brooke on 24th December 2007

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Film Description

While researching another project, filmmaker Errol Morris became fascinated by the case of Randall Dale Adams, a man on death row for the murder of a cop. Convinced of his innocence, Morris amassed a mountain of evidence and constructed an argument that the Texas authorities found unanswerable. After the film's release, the case was reopened and Adams exonerated. With its cool, controlled visual style, pulsing Philip Glass score and overlaying of multiple viewpoints this is innovative, fascinating and just cinema.

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