Not to be confused with the British sitcom starring Rowan Atkinson and created by Ben Elton, this is a documentary feature film that featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I knew the title would be something to do with police or the law, and I was more intrigued with what I read about it. From director Errol Morris, this film documents and reconstructs the night of November 29th 1976, when during a traffic stop in Dallas police officer Robert W. Wood was murdered, the Dallas Police Department could only make an arrest after a sixteen year old Vidor, Texas resident gave information that he had told friends he was responsible for the crime. Young David Ray Harris did lead the police to the car driven from the scene of the crime and the 22 Short calibre revolver identified as the murder weapon, and the murderer was identified as twenty eight year old Ohio resident and hitchhiker Randall Dale Adams, who was living in a Dallas motel with his brother at the time. With the series of interviews from all involved in the investigation and re-enactments of the night in question, including witnesses, detectives and from Adams and Harris, and two attorneys make the case that more evidence points towards juvenile Harris then Adams who claims to be innocent and could face death under Texas law. The title of the film comes from a prosecutor comment that the police are "the thin blue line" separating society from "anarchy", also something to do with a poem by Rudyard Kipling and the colour of police uniform and their formation. Before watching this film I read that this film, made twelve years since the crime was committed, received a much more meaningful accolade than winning an Oscar or any other awards, following the release of the film the investigation was reignited and the case taken back to court, and the sentence for Adams was reversed. It is great to hear that a film could be so informative and force a retrial and the law to rethink their decision and verdict on a crime, Adams was indeed proved an innocent man and wrongly accused while Harris was executed with lethal injection in 2004 (for another unrelated crime). This is an engaging enough real life story about a murder and the routines of law enforcement and the legal system, the editing of going from interviews to re-enactments is well put together, and with some provocative stuff you do get a sense of unease sometimes, a terrific documentary. It was number 28 on The 50 Greatest Documentaries. Very good!
Review of The Thin Blue Line
