Inside Look: The People v. O.J. Simpson - American Crime Story (2016) User Reviews

Almost perfect

[ShaunV1990 · 9/10 · 21 January 2018]

What a shock when I saw how few reviews this got. My god, I wasn't even planning on doing any effort in writing one, but this drew me over the line.

I'm not a citizen of the USA, but as a European born in the '90's it's hard to not have heard about O.J. Simpson. But that does not mean I knew the full story. Occasionally I read something about it, but I never got the whole history. This show gave me that opportunity. And boy, what a ride it was.

There are few shows where the creators do so many things right. But there are two things in particular that stood out from all those other shows. The first one is the acting. John Travolta, when he comes in, he draws you right in to the show. This is easily his best acting role in his recent career. The narcissism, arrogance,... Just for his acting performance it's worth to watch this show. But also the other lead characters are amazing. I'm just not sure if I found Cuba Gooding Jr. the right O.J. Simpson. Perhaps not completely. Some things just didn't feel quite right with his performance. In the beginning I found his acting quite spot on. But during the trial that changed in my opinion. I cannot quite finger point exactly what it was. Just an offish feeling I guess.

The second thing that is done brilliant is the pacing. You never feel bored. Every episode has his little what-the-f**k moment. The way they mixed original footage with the footage of the show. It's done so well, as if you are back in 1995.

Why not a 10? I just completely missed the story of the family of the victims. I get it though... If you make this kind of show, you want to make a point. And you can't focus on everything. The story writers chose to concentrate on the influence of the media combined with the frustration of the Afro-American community. Which lead to a completely irrational outcome in this case, lead by emotions of a hurt community. Sad.

Ticks all the right boxes.

[honestly22 · 7/10 · 30 April 2017]

I'm not a US Resident, so this didn't affect me in the way it seemed to affect American audiences, especially considering I'm under 25 and as such, OJ Simpsons trial was before my time. All of this culminated in a set of fresh eyes watching the OJ Simpson trial play out in a fictional setting.

I really enjoyed 'The People v. O.J. Simpson, American Crime Story', it was well written, well acted, and the editing was incredible. Obviously I know this is based on a true story, however, because of the aforementioned fresh eyes - I was able to enjoy this thoroughly and became engrossed in the story, as opposed to the details.

One thing that really stood out for me was the time dedicated to setting the scene within the first ten minutes of the first episode. We're given information about the racial tensions of the day (RE; 1992 L.A Riots) and this helps establish the tone and world that this show will be exhibiting for us.

Many people have remarked that Cuba Gooding Jr wasn't a convincing OJ- for me though this wasn't an issue. Even after researching OJ Simpson and watching the original trial tapes on YouTube, I still think Cuba Gooding Jr did a brilliant job at capturing OJ's shady essence within his very nuanced performance.

Marcia Clark was written and portrayed as a strong, flawed, and determined woman, and Sarah Paulson's acting was superb and worthy of her accolades and awards.

Overall 'The People v. O.J. Simpson, American Crime Story' was a brilliant Miniseries, and one I would very much watch again. It very much captures the story of OJ Simpson in a way that feels authentic (minus any actual discrepancies) and makes for a very compelling piece of television.

Near-perfect recreation and dramatization of real events.

[kitellis-98121 · 9/10 · 10 July 2018]

Excellent series. One of the best, and most accurate, dramatizations of real events I've ever seen.

I was 20 years old when the real trial was happening, and like the rest of the world I was glued to my TV screen for the whole event. So when I started watching this dramatization, I was immediately transported back to that time.

As I watched the series through (for the first time), I was so blown away by its historical accuracy that I decided to simultaneously re-watch the corresponding real archive footage on Youtube after each episode, and could find no fault with the dramatized version.

I've just finished re-watching this series again, after a long gap, without additional archive viewing, and it surprised me how much my mind has inadvertently merged the real events with the dramatized ones, to the point that I can no longer reliably separate the two. That, for me, demonstrates how successful the filmmakers were in their recreations.

The only thing that lets the dramatized version down is the casting of Cuba Gooding Jr, which despite an unsurprisingly mesmerising performance, is nevertheless unconvincing due to the total lack of any resemblance to the real OJ. But that is a minor gripe in an otherwise exceptional drama series. From start to finish this was a gripping and utterly rewarding show.

A Complete Package

[sumitrox · 10/10 · 1 December 2018]

If I have to describe this series in one line, I would say, "A series worth your time". Never during the entire series will you feel the need to move an inch in your seat. The makers of the show have stuck to the facts and presented it in an ensemble of plot twists.

One thing which I found very interesting during the entire series was that I was constantly switching sides; often sympathizing with the prosecutors and often sympathizing with the defendants (read court drama).

Towards the end of the show you find it difficult to understand who the protagonists and who the antagonists are. And I believe that is what makes a series worth watching, isn't it?

Perfection in a miniseries

[streamy1980 · 10/10 · 14 April 2017]

Wow, Wow this was simply perfection. Everyone or almost everyone knows the story of O.J...but not like this. It goes behind the scenes of each character and shows their raw emotion. Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark was fantastic, Courtney B. Vance as Johnny Cochran was riveting and Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden was perfection. John Travolta, David Schwimmer, and Cuba Gooding Jr were all excellent as well. The acting is what makes the story. The subject matter is disturbing, the brutal deaths of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman are tragic and this does not make a mockery of their deaths.

Grippingly fantastic

[Bepsicle · 9/10 · 9 August 2018]

I was not old enough to follow the original trial and so went into this series with kind of fresh eyes (although obviously, I was aware of who OJ was, who had been killed, the verdict etc.). I thought that, because, I already knew the verdict, this would be boring, but I was so wrong! It is gripping from start to finish, and honestly leaves you open mouthed at many points (the glove debacle particularly had me shouting at the TV!). The acting was fantastic, and I felt like real effort was made to have the actors look like the real life people they were portraying; except for Cuba Gooding Jr. OJ is such a tall, imposing man, and Cuba Gooding Jr is neither of these things, and was often at times, the shortest person in the room. Although he acted the part well, for me, he just lacked the stature needed to convincingly play OJ. Overall, I would say that this is one of my favourite series of all time. I highly recommend you watch this, no matter how much you think you know about the trial, you won't be sorry!

Completes the whole picture.....

[bartikyan-34-150435 · 9/10 · 17 May 2017]

I started watching this TV Series right after watching Documentary O.J Made in America. This 2 films are so completing each other, TV series is digging deeper into each character, sort of tells the story of key figures in O.J's life and trial. But if you have seen the documentary first, there will be few things what wouldn't fit, and first of all it's O.J's character. O.J's personality in the Documentary was really different from how he was presented in this TV Series. Cuba Gooding Jr, was the worst choice from my opinion for this role. O.J in his interviews looks very cold minded, confident and selfish and physically very strong athlete. Gooding was nowhere close to this, instead he portrayed O.J as a coward, whiny and weak person. But this is probably the only thing I didn't like about this film and for some it would seem not a big deal. The way camera moves, the way it is filmed was brilliant, the rest of the characters like Marcia Clark, Robert Kardashian, Judge Lance Ito and many others were a perfect match. But the best thing about this movie is focusing on characters around the trial and the "behind the scenes" for each end every one of them ! It's unbelievable what this people went through, so much hypocrisy, so much hate towards each other, so much ignorance of the fact that 2 human beings were slaughtered, it's very touching and makes you think and value life ! I know this film is based on terrible facts but it really moved me.

He obviously did it

[nickdnk · 9/10 · 14 June 2018]

Today there's no denying that OJ killed Ron and Nicole. Racism, emotion, riots, media etc. aside, the evidence was overwhelming to say the least. I was not old enough to have followed the original trial, but I think this series was great entertainment and it seemed very true to the story (which should be easy given the amount of content available). An interview with OJ from some years back was released in March 2018, in which he actually goes into detail (in first person narrative) about how he killed the couple. It's available on YouTube. I think the acting was great, and most of the cast was spot on - with the ironic exception of OJ himself, which isn't Cuba Gooding's fault; they just don't look alike at all. Definitely worth the watch.

Amazing and Amazingly done!

[BeccaGudd · 9/10 · 19 January 2018]

I was never so interested in the OJ Simpson case because I was only 10 when it happened. However my husband suggested I watch it and I'm so glad I did. One of the main things I love about this show is the way they really made it look like 94/95. With the old cell phones, the big old TV sets and the old video cameras etc. I think that really made the show authentic. I also think the actors portrayed the real life characters very well. I think David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian was a great choice. Also Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark was also great, they look very similar. I think this show has done a superb job of retelling one of the most biggest trials in history. Not that my personal opinion should influence anyone but there is no doubt in my mind that he is 100% guilty. But when sensitive controversial subjects like race come into play then the truth can be hidden behind the emotions and legal red tape. Which is what I think happened here with OJ Simpson. Nevertheless please watch it for yourself and make your own opinions. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Riveting, addictive but cheesy 1980s Columbo style acting.

[ToneBalone60 · 7/10 · 14 June 2019]

Story is good, although we all know the outcome, but as courtcase dramas go this really was lame and pedestrian.

They tried to portray the 90's but overdid it. The scenes, plot line and acting was reminiscent of a 1980s " Columbo" or "Murder she wrote" court case , it even had two of the old actors from those old favourites. :( Nathan Lane and Bruce Greenwood).

Cuba gooding Jr. looks nothing like OJ Simpson and was a total miscast. John travolta plays a fantastically mesmerising role as Shapiro , if somewhat overly comical. The actress playing the prosecuting attorney is just cringeworthy & as annoying as her perm. ! Not even sure if the backstory on her was true or made up but I didn't really care about her.

Its good entertainment and worth a watch but they really could have done so much better. (It's not a patch on their other production: "the killing of Gianni Versace". Which is on a whole other level.

A must-watch

[memocelo · 9/10 · 9 December 2018]

It's excellent entertainment that sadly trivializes the real-life victims. But if you can get past that reality then you can appreciate the show for what it is. I had to deduct a point from my rating because the show outright lies at times for dramatic effect, but it doesn't diminish its entertainment value. Other than OJ himself, all characters were portrayed well, and the series did a great job of removing the more tedious parts of the real life trial.

Marred by a casting mistake and a bad performance for the ages

[Aristides-2 · 6/10 · 24 September 2018]

1.The actor playing O.J. doesn't have to look like him of course but should be attractive looking. Gooding is a fine actor but shouldn't have been cast as Simpson. 2.Almost every time John Travolta appears the scene stops cold because of his bizarre looks and equally strange body language. It's as if Travolta was imagining he was in a Grand Guignol movie playing Bob Shapiro as a Madame Tussaud wax figure. Grotesque!

This show is a whitewash of Robert Kardashian

[danmcn61-1 · 10 June 2017]

While this show had moments of excellence, the portrayal of attorney Robert Kardashian was a complete whitewash. The crucial moment when K removed Simpson's bag from the Rockingham estate was completely wrong and K was portrayed as a deeply religious, ethical family man when in reality he was an accessory to two murders.

Ignore those saying its perfect... >.<

[jmezzatesta · 1/10 · 1 May 2021]

If you can get past really poor acting, this might be worth the watch just because of the story. I could NOT handle how bad Cuba Good Jr's acting is... wow... It's like hes trying to be Tracy Jordon in 30 Rock! But it's not just him. This is poorly acted by most. I blame the director, why aren't you seeing this, and reshooting?

Do yourself a favour, skip this show!

The Latter Trial of the Century with Problematic Casting Choice

[classicalsteve · 9/10 · 24 April 2017]

The People v. O.J. Simpson is a docudrama about one of the most publicized murder cases of the 20th century. The O.J. case itself offered no ground-breaking change or in the American legal system, such as Gideon v Wainwright (1966) in which the court ruled that a defendant deserved professional representation irrelevant of the crime, regardless of the defendant's ability to pay for representation. The public fascination of the O.J. Simpson and its exposure of racial tensions was more closely aligned with the Charles Lindbergh Kidnapping case of the 1930's whose conviction of a German immigrant also exposed ethnic distrust.

The film stars Cuba Gooding as O.J. Simpson, and includes an outstanding supporting cast: John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, Courtney B. Vance as Johnny Cochran, Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, and Bruce Greenwood as Gil Garcetti. The film brings us into the behind-the-scenes drama of this compelling episode in American legal theater. The film does an outstanding job of giving us, the audience, the juxtaposition between what was given to the American public and how the main players decided the material best to present to the press, the jury and the public at large. The film begins with footage from the Rodney King case and the ensuing race riots which erupted in Los Angels in the wake of the acquittal of law enforcement.

The main narrative begins with the violent barking of a dog which attracts the attention of some late-night joggers in an upscale area of Los Angeles, Brentwood. The dogs barking leads to the discovery of two dead bodies laying in the outside porch of a house on Bundy Drive. They were identified as Nicole Brown Simpson, the owner of the house, and another friend, Ronald Goldman. Detectives arrived to the scene and were eventually informed that Nicole was the ex-wife of American Football and film actor O.J. Simpson (Gooding), nicknamed "The Juice". Simpson was in Chicago but then took a red-eye flight back to Los Angeles to learn more about the death of his ex-wife.

Relatively quickly, a case is building against Simpson. His immediate friends and legal counsels, Robert Kardashian (Schwimmer) and Robert Shapiro (Travolta), begin to suspect that Los Angeles is planning to arrest and charge Simpson for the murders. They become the first of Simpson's legal "dream team" as it came to be called. On another front, we learn of an African-American attorney name of Johnny Cochran who had made a reputation for representing African-Americans against legal injustices. Cochran had also represented celebrities, notably Michael Jackson.

Cochran begins commenting on the O.J. Simpson case publicly, particularly on shows like "Larry King Live". Eventually, Cochran joins the team. The team at first is an odd mix of Kardashian, Shapiro and other white lawyers and assistants, and Cochran and his African-American lawyers and associates. The two sides seem at odds, and questions arise regarding who will represent Simpson as lead counsel. Simpson opts for Cochran to the dismay of the other white lawyers.

Down in Los Angeles, Marcia Clark (Paulson) is putting together their case against Simpson which appears to be iron-clad. She wants to be lead prosecutor and she polls some African-American women and the results suggest that a white prosecutor could win their sympathy against an alleged wife-beater. However, Gil Garcetti (Greenwood) feels the prosecution looks too "white". The trial will be held in downtown Los Angeles, and there would undoubtedly be African-American jurors. They find a solution: they ask Christopher Darden (Brown) to join the prosecution. The court appoints Judge Lance Ito to hear the case, a Japanese-American who, some speculate, was assigned because he was neither white nor black.

The trial begins, but something is not right with Mark Fuhrman (Steven Pasquale). He is brought into the trial because of a bloody glove he claims to have found on the O.J. Simpson property the night of the murders. However, through some investigative work, it is learned that Fuhrman is a racist and some new evidence emerges which proves it without a shadow of a doubt.

Definitely a compelling series from beginning to end. So why 9 stars out of 10? There is one miscast: Cuba Gooding as O.J. Simpson. I will preface this to say I am great admirer of Gooding who has had some terrific performances. However, he was not a good choice for O.J. Simpson. I think the problem is that Gooding, unlike O.J. has a very strong personality and a high-pitched tenor voice. O.J. has a softer but resonant baritone voice and in interviews he always came off as very calm and "comfortable" in his own "skin". Not that the O.J. behind the scenes couldn't be fiery, but Gooding is almost too fiery, with a lot of whining and nervous angst which happens all the way through the film. Sometimes I found Gooding a bit over-the-top.

Sadly, Gooding is just not a terribly convincing O.J. I felt like I kept seeing the actor rather than one of the biggest sports and media stars of all-time, and he comes off like he's still playing Rod Tidwell from "Jerry Maguire". Although they are both African-Americans, they really couldn't even pass as brothers, not even cousins. For one thing, Simpson would dwarf Gooding, and the former football star's head is rather ovular and nearly perfectly symmetrical while Gooding's is far more round and a little bit asymmetrical (not that one is better than the other). The issue is that we've seen O.J. so much, especially on television during the trial, that using an actor who physically bears almost no resemblance to the character he's playing can upset the production value. Certainly an A-, but not an A because of the miscast. Even Forest Whitaker would probably have been much closer to Simpson than Gooding. I saw too much of Gooding and not enough of Simpson.

Everything is perfect but..

[hmxaraj · 9/10 · 18 October 2020]

This documentary was outstanding! The direction , the attention to detail was flawless. All the characters that played in this role were not only similar in physique to the real people but in posture and energy as well. The only thing that set me off a bit was the actor who played O.J Simpson, he wasn't charming enough and after seeing the real footage his reflexes weren't same as O.J and seeing him made it look like I was watching a documentary elsewise I would have drowned in the spell of this amazing piece of history.

WOW!

[Iknowbest · 9/10 · 6 October 2018]

The performances of this docudrama were fantastic!!! Loved Travolta - his characterization was so unique and memorable. This one will have you on the edge of your seat, whether you remember the OJ verdict or not.

Do not miss it

[nneelakandan · 8/10 · 17 December 2020]

Fantastic docu series about People vs O J Simpson. Performance of actors was top notch in the series. A must watch from Netflix.

Breath taken

[jackthecoward · 9/10 · 2 October 2018]

Such an amazing portrayal of this real life major event. The acting by Travolta and Gooding Jr were so compelling as were others. You forget in some ways it's based on real events and get immersed in the drama! Do watch!!

Unbelievably Good

[bpavone · 10/10 · 11 August 2020]

What the Bonfire of the Vanities was to the literary world, The People v. OJ Simpson is -- and a lot more -- to the legal one. As a 25th year lawyer, I watch with scrutiny and unique interest all of the interesting legal flicks. And there have been some great ones: The Paper Chase, The Verdict, A Civil Action, Erin Brockovich, Primal Fear, Michael Clayton and others. These and others adeptly capture the plight and drama of the legal world and certain cases, revealing its best and worst features in a very touching and human way.

But nothing compares to Travolta's OJ. Forget trial of the century; OJ was the trial to mark world history. Start with a real case that will never be matched in terms of its sheer star power, display of raw human appetite, and nuclear collision of political, social, legal and economic superpowers (and superegos). Practically any movie with this much real life content to build on would be great.

But the OJ production/script/research team went even farther than that by capturing the beautiful, tragic and comical moments during the case when the biggest egos get shattered, the worst luck strikes the best people, where the dumbest of events change human history, all of it beautifully contextualized during a story that provides a true education in the tactics of some of the nation's most skilled trial lawyers.

And on top of all that, the acting is first class all the way.

While the aforementioned handful of other law movies are brilliant, and themselves historical in their own right, OJ sits in its own extra galactic league of next level filmography.

Authentic, but...

[jayaramanathan · 7/10 · 2 November 2020]

It drags on, there are surprises now and then, but with crisp editing, the series could have been shortened by a couple of hours.

A Gripping, Insightful Look at a True Story

[michael_balsdon · 9/10 · 21 March 2018]

The main thing that the show does exceptionally well is that it gives all of its main characters the right amount of focus in the story. The show could of simply been all about OJ Simpson and neglected the stories of the lawyers representing him or even the jury but the show delves into these stories and its these that offer some of the emotional and memorable moments of the series. The story also chooses to focus not only on the trial of Simpson but also on the racial feelings surrounding the case as well as the racial climate that the USA was experiencing. There is never a dull moment in the show as the various twists and turns in the plot keep you watching. The soundtrack of the show perfectly captures the time period and the use of news footage from the time immerses viewers successfully. This is a show that needs to be seen not only for the story and performances but also because it shows how TV can be like film without the visual spectacle that shows like Game of Thrones offer. It's just Great.

A steaming pile of low grade manure.

[jake-97627 · 17 November 2018]

Surprisingly not a mocumentary.

John Travolta appears to have had a root canal, Ross from friends somehow pulls off being Ross from friends. & Cuba Gooding JR almost makes his performance in Radio look watchable. Amazingly bad!

Riveting but slanted

[OneAnjel · 6/10 · 16 January 2022]

Who doesn't like a good court drama? Everyone played their parts well. But I agree Gooding Jr was not right for the part -- too small, not very attractive, wrong vocal tonality. The producers obviously spent a lot more thought on the other characters. My complaint is that this series does the same thing the media has done since the trial ended: insinuating that the jury got it wrong and that the 'dream team' got him off because of grand-standing. That's just not true. They used what was right in front of them and it was hard data, not made up. Darden and Clark were out of their league but they didn't have a case. They made rookie mistakes rushing to prosecute without checking their evidence and witnesses. This would have never gone to trial if they had just made sure they had all their ducks in a row . And then they toyed with the jury trying to get all the blacks out when they realized they had no other way to win! The fact is even today there is no evidence that OJ committed these murders. He was talked into putting his name on a book that someone else wrote just for the money. It's a fake book describing a what-if scenario. No one believed it to the point that only the Goldman's had the audacity to publish it pretending that it was an actual confession. In an interview about the fake confession, OJ makes up various what-ifs, none of which coincide with the fake confession in the book. All these people that want OJ to so badly be guilty are just trying to cover up what Cochran uncovered. That's the big take-away from this trial. I believe the jury had more than reasonable doubt. There's something about powerful black men that American law enforcement and media want to take down. The one's they can't shoot of suffocate, they try to imprison. Let's not forget what was learned in this trial.

Perfect example

[oliviaashton-14105 · 1/10 · 10 June 2019]

It's a great example of how people get off for crimes they commit regardless of evidence. It's always about the double standard or people feeling bad about having to put someone away for 25 years to life. When did we decide that common people have the mental capacity to take DNA, science, and evidence and make a reformed decision that makes sense? Instead it's all about what people want to see in the world and get out of the jury room as quick as possible because it has disturbed them enough as it is. At the end of the day, everyone is worried about themself and no one else in a case, as portrayed by this movie. And that is actually factual. And while the prosecution has to mind their Ps and Qs, a defense team has the freedom to come up with whatever they want and use it. Also as unfair today as it was back then. This was a reminder that this has been going on for too long and while people are focused on issues that don't need to be revisited, why don't we focus on the fact that we have the conviction of murderers left in the hands of people that may or may not have any education at all... why should they decide the fate on a case of murder? Why don't we just let people that are educated in understanding things, such as DNA, decide if killers are guilty?! That'd make too much sense. This was a reminder that 20 years ago, people were just as stupid as they are today and that a defense attorney can do whatever they want and get away with it.