Talhotblond (2009) User Reviews

Man plays out in real life what his online persona would do.

[suite92 · 8/10 · 26 December 2013]

Thomas Montgomery is a middle aged father of two who lives and works in Western New York, near Buffalo. He is in a job where he has hit the advancement ceiling. His middle aged body trends into impotence, and he starts looking for satisfaction elsewhere than with his wife.

He meets in a chat room a girl named Jessi, from West Virginia, whose online handle is talhotblond. Montgomery's handle is marinesniper. Montgomery was a Marine, but not one who saw combat. Still, he makes up all sorts of nonsensical lies for his online encounters with Jessi.

Montgomery's wife catches wind of what he is doing; she confronts him and writes Jessi a letter, telling her a number of pertinent truths. A co-worker Brian also learns of Montgomery's foolishness, and enters the fray. Jessi and Brian flame Montgomery and get him suspended from the online chats. Montgomery stays away from it a while, but later he comes back in. Montgomery manipulates things to get Brian (handle beefcake), off the game; he quits associating with Brian in the real world, and online.

That does not last forever, and Jessi pulls Montgomery back in again. She convinces Montgomery that she is back together with Brian.

In a small surprise, 'Jessi' is not 18; she also is a deep liar like Montgomery. Also, she is Mary, the real Jessi's mother. So two middle aged, unattractive adults keep this storm of lies going via their totally false online characters. How does this play out in real life? Very badly, as it turns out. Who gets to walk away from this?

------Scores-------

Cinematography: 8/10 Mostly good.

Sound: 10/10 OK.

Screenplay: 8/10 Tells the real-life and online stories fairly well. Some of the character studies are good for depth.

A thrilling documentary

[napierslogs · 8/10 · 22 August 2010]

I rarely see thrillers told as a documentary, or at least good documentaries, but that's what "Talhotblond" is. And it's done well.

It opens with a young man telling us that he was murdered - all because of lies told in a sexually-charged online chat room. Early on it seems we know the whole story of what happens, so I wasn't sure how they planned on keeping the film going. But there is so much more to this story. More than you could ever believe. They kept me watching because I wanted to try and solve the case, see how it all plays out. Although it may seem like they tell us the ending at the very beginning, they really didn't.

The story is paced well. We find out what we need to, when we need to, to keep watching, but never revealing all of the shocking secrets. It is hard to make a documentary about things said in an online chat room. I'm not sure if text across the screen is a good way, but I haven't thought of a better way. I found that it dragged a bit at the end, but that's probably just because I didn't feel that much justice was served to "Talhotblond".

Excellent documentary

[jennifer-menzies · 8/10 · 1 September 2013]

There is nothing I enjoy more than compelling real life stories, and this is certainly one. The story is disturbing and fascinating in equal measure. It details an almost unbelievable chain of events, which results in one man (Thomas Montgomery) carrying out a brutal and unforgivable act, fuelled by obsession and temporary madness. The film tells us how he got to that stage, in his own words. As well as interviews with him, there are insights from clinical psychologists, attorneys, and various law enforcement officials, and the other key figures in the story. (I will not say more about who these 'key figures' are as I do not wish to give it away.) But their honesty during their interviews is commendable and very much adds to the credibility of the film. To my mind, this is clearly what inspired the fake "real life" documentary 'Catfish'. In fact I would go so far as to say Catfish totally ripped this off, and threw in a few elements of 'My Kid Could Paint That' for good measure. Anyway, this film is definitely one to watch. It is a stark warning of the perils of the online world and is also of interest to people who enjoy learning about the human psyche and criminal psychology. Highly recommended.

Like another reviewer said... One of the top 10 OMG moments in cinema history

[heydanno · 2 January 2014]

I truly do not understand the hate and hyper criticism this stunning documentary has received. I cannot imagine how it could have been made better. I thought the film was outstanding (and I have pretty much seen them all). Among many positives, it contained one of the Top 10 OMG moments in the history of film. People need to stop trying to be the next Roger Ebert and be thankful you are treated with cinematic gifts like this from time to time. They are so rare. The music was great. The narration was unique and very effective. The voice over actors were high caliber. The interviews where compelling. The story was astonishing (yet deeply sad of course).

Love can make you blind, uncritical and, sometimes, homicidal

[citizen-caveman · 7/10 · 12 September 2014]

The subject matter is a must-read for anyone seeking companionship via the Internet.

Forty-seven year-old Tom Montgomery wanted to impress an eighteen-year-old girl online. So he pretended to be an eighteen-year-old only to find the eighteen-year-old girl was middle-aged just like him. But not until he killed a (genuine) twenty-two year-old "love rival". He ended one life and ruined countless others.

What impressed me the most was the dignity and composure of Dan and Deb Barrett, the parents of murder-victim Brian Barrett, when they were interviewed.

What impressed me the least is the style of narration. The voice- over pretends to be the murder victim Brian Barrett and basically sticks words into the words of a dead man. How can we really know if Brian Barrett would ever think and/or say these words?

Another, albeit minor flaw, of this documentary is that it does not provide some context for this tragedy. How common a problem is this? Chat rooms have been described as "theatres of dreams". A place where it can be hard to separate fiction from reality.

That said the message remains clear enough - do not emotionally invest with anonymous strangers online. If you can.

Delusions and Reality

[cebelina · 7/10 · 11 May 2014]

Wow! What a heart-breaker. We've all heard the dangers of the internet. Those same dangers have existed before the internet and they will exist far beyond the internet. The Darkness of Humanity, deceit, jealousy and betrayal are old themes in the repertoire of Human Existence. What is different here is the ability of Humanity to live in an existence of non-reality and have that non-reality respond back. Not as an auditory hallucination. Not as a delusion but as a text in real time, interaction with another human being. We believe what we want to believe and we pretend not to believe what we don't want to think is real. We say and act what we want others to believe about ourselves...when does the line of truth and reality blur...just what is it and when is it when we choose our delusion and believe it as the truth about ourselves? When do we act upon our delusions? When do we allow ourselves to become our very worst?

Gripping documentary for the virtual age

[Leofwine_draca · 9/10 · 26 January 2012]

The best documentaries seek to teach us something about the human condition and Barbara Schroeder's TALLHOTBLOND does just that. Like the similar CATFISH, it explores the pitfalls of internet dating and the many lies and deceit behind the typical cyber relationship.

TALLHOTBLOND plays a lot like a Hollywood thriller: it's lean and terse, never outstaying its welcome, and it packs a number of twists worthy of M. Night Shyamalan. Sure, some of the editing decisions are a little odd - not least the 'beyond the grave' narration - but there's no denying the shocking, sad and disturbing events of the tale.

Most people see this as a simple documentary about murder, but they're missing the point entirely. It's a lesson in culpability.

Above average documentary. Very interesting and sad.

[danielkent-1 · 7/10 · 22 May 2011]

This documentary proves that love, or a twisted version of love, can lead to horrible things. This is not a simple case of online fraud. From the title and plot you can guess the true story is not going to end happy.

People who say this is brilliant obviously don't see its flaws. The POV fake narrator (which to me I would kinda find insulting) or the cross fade cuts to edit out the interviewees blabbering just looks bad.

But this story is explained very well, the pace is brilliant, the twists just make you as a very feel interested. Its a budget documentary that presented well. They did their research. If you keep with it it gets very interesting and shocking!

Stayed up late, watching this on ABC iView as an online "catch-up TV" documentary. I couldn't help but think how much the world depends on the internet. I could lost my job on Monday for complaining about work on Facebook. But then I have a network of contacts to email my resume to find another one on LinkedIn. I have meet people of the internet too. Luckily I said who I was truthfully. But what if I lied?

To me this documentary hits home. People live out their lives over the internet now. Its a fact and its sad. The internet has private information about everyone for anyone to seek. But you can also fake your life over the internet. Start chatting with people who are lonely and love hungry, its a recipe for disaster.

This documentary will clearly show just that. You never know who your talking too. The ending so worth the boring parts.

A Chilling Tale of Cyberspace Romance Gone Awry

[zardoz-13 · 10/10 · 23 March 2010]

Anybody who loves lurid, real-life homicide cases with mind boggling revelations will crave this skillfully made documentary about a cyberspace femme fatale who turned two grown men against one another. These two guys participated in Internet chat room sessions with an 18-year old hottie. Forty-seven year old factory worker Thomas Montgomery, currently serving a 20-year stretch in Attica Correctional Facility in New York, was an unhappily married man with two daughters aged 12 and 14-years old. Montgomery was suffering from impotence when he met Jessi in an Internet chat room purely by accident. Montgomery masqueraded as an 18-year old battle scarred Marine sniper named Tommy when he learned that Jessi was a West Virginia high school senior. He fooled the poor teenager into believing that he had deep feelings of love for her. Jessi reciprocated similar feelings of affection. The web-based romance began in May 2005. Jessi sent him photos of herself in a bathing suit, videos of herself set to a ballad, red-lace panties, and a sterling silver "key to my heart" chain. Their chat sessions degenerated into pornographic prattle. Meanwhile, Montgomery's suspicious wife Cindy discovered her husband's perfidy and contacted Jessi with the truth about Montgomery. Before long Jessi hooked up with a college student named Brian. Eventually, this twisted relationship incorporated all three and Montgomery learned that Brian worked part-time at the same factory, the tool plant, Dynabrade in Clarence, New York, where he had been working for 12 years. One evening while 22-year old Brian sat in his truck in the factory parking lot, Montgomery approached the vehicle without warning and fired three shots from a .30-caliber gun into the driver's side door, killing Brian. The jealous older man was stunned when he learned the truth about sexy young Jessi and how she had lead him on in a bizarre love triangle. This is a chilling cautionary tale of what can occur when you chat will the wrong folks in cyberspace. First-time writer & director Barbara Schroeder does a splendid job of assembling the facts in a piecemeal fashion with the actual participants, including candid, on-camera interviews with convicted killer Thomas Montgomery, clinical psychologist and attorney Dr. Rex Julian Beaber, Erie County prosecutor Ken Case, Erie County Sheriff Ron Kenyon, Oak Hill, West Virginia Sgt. Lee Kirk, Tim Shieler, and the father of the Internet teen vixen. The revelations here will curl your toe-nails and make you think twice about entering an Internet chat room. Indeed, truth is again stranger than fiction! "Talhotblond" received the Best Documentary award at the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival. Incidentally, the title refers to the screen name that Jessi used in Internet chat rooms.

Once again, real life is stranger than fiction.

[lewiskendell · 6/10 · 15 February 2011]

"She unleashed a fantasy online that was addictive as any drug, and as lethal as any bullet."

Like the somewhat similar documentary Catfish, Talhotblond is a real-life story about how easy it is to hide behind a fictional identity online, and the problems that can result from such deceit. 

Talhotblond is an example of a worse case scenario of Internet deceit. A dangerous love triangle started online ends up in a murder and the destruction of several lives. Interviews from the people involved, psychiatric experts, and the law authorities who eventually became involved, paint a disturbing picture of manipulation and lies that is unfortunately all too true. 

If you're interested in the subject, check it out.

Flawed documentary had a great story to tell

[Siamois · 4/10 · 20 April 2010]

Barbara Shroeder's Talhotblond is a flawed documentary about an internet love triangle leading to a crime of passion. The three individuals involved all deceive each others at one point or another and just when you think the documentary has run its course and revealed everything, the story takes a new shocking turn.

Shroeder does a good job of pacing this captivating story and presenting it almost like a thriller. Where she absolutely fails is when she injects subjectivity with a heavy-handed analysis of who exactly is responsible for the crime. What should have been an eye-opening cautionary tale about potential online traps becomes a muddled affair.

On the surface, the story is about Thomas, an impotent family man in his 40s striking an online romance with Jessi, an 18 year old girl on the internet by pretending to be a young US marine. Eventually, Thomas is unmasked and Jessi gets a new, younger online boyfriend called Brian. Problem is, the world is a small place and both Brian and Thomas in real life actually work for the same company. There is a copious use of quotes of instant messages by all three of them, the story is both pathetic and dramatic but there are many flaws.

The most obvious flaw is that the entire story is narrated by the murdered character, Brian. (This is not a spoiler, we learn in the first minute of the documentary that he is killed by Thomas). This extremely subjective attempt by Shroeder to make us sympathize with Brian is unnecessary, manipulative and actually prevents the documentary from ever reaching its true potential. Some of "Fake Brian"'s narration is worse than nails on a chalkboard. You really wonder what Shroeder was thinking when she wrote this and it detracts from the reality of the case and blurs facts with fiction.

But the real pervasive flaw is with an analysis provided by an "expert" who had nothing to do with the case. Rex Beaber, a clinical psychologist, offers his insight on the case, the motivations of all three persons involved as well as his own subjective views on morality. At no point in time was Beaber actually involved in the case, nor has he ever met any member of the infamous trio involved in this tragedy. He just offers us a mix of speculation on the case, pseudo-scientific psychology views reminiscent of a college student having attended psychology 101 as well as awkward and subjective views on his own morality code.

This decision by Shroeder absolutely destroys the credibility of Talhotblond as a classic documentary and veers it toward the growing trend of documentaries-turned-spectacle that have become prevalent. Here, it seems just reporting objective facts would be boring, and people could not make up their mind themselves. No, Shroeder has to use cheap narrative tricks and pseudo-experts to drive her own (rather unbelievable) take on the case.

It's really too bad. With the ever growing popularity of Facebook, another generation of middle aged people are migrating online. Many of them, much like the three characters in this story, are lonely, gullible and looking for hope, friendship or more online. This documentary should have been the dangers of trusting online, the ease with which one can embellish or hide. I wonder if Shroeder is aware of the irony of having a fake Brian narrating a documentary about fake identities.

Talhotblond becomes about who is truly responsible for Brian's death and that is just a shame. Still recommended for people who tend to be believe everything they read online.

Absolutely one of the top ten OMG moments in cinematic history!

[lundbf · 10/10 · 20 April 2010]

Love it or hate it, this documentary holds a mirror up to a dark, disturbing side of humanity. Of course you can choose to accept or reject that this lies within us collectively, but make no mistake, the director artfully tells a story that rates as one of "strangest but true" ever. The kind of story that evokes such emotion from the user who called this movie "awful" ... it's that good. On the technical side, the music selected for the soundtrack fits well. The narrator's POV is very effective, and the pacing has the gradual build up that makes the climactic point that much stronger. The story itself is the find of a lifetime for a writer. It could easily have been mistreated, but in the director's hands, comes out as a documentary masterpiece.

a man kills a man and it's all the woman's fault

[pablo-187 · 1/10 · 15 February 2014]

i enjoyed the first half, before it spirals into a moralising tale in which the woman is blamed, analysed, and targeted as the culprit of many deceits, despite the participation, stupidity, and violence of men. i liked how the voice of a dead man was used as narration, until this voice (of a man who said and did some horrible things) comes to set the moral tone of the film. the events point to larger social systems of gender and sexuality, yet seems to not only ignore these, but reinforces damaging gender stereotypes through which women are more harshly viewed and blamed for violence they did not commit. an alternative title for this film is "a man kills a man and it's all the woman's fault". this film fails to see the broader social context of the story it tells. hence, fail.

Surprisingly good

[penwah2 · 8/10 · 10 January 2015]

The premise of this film interested me, as I met my share of posers on the Internet when I first got online. Frankly, I didn't expect much more than your run of the mill Investigative Discovery segment, so I was busy doing other things online when the film started. I was not prepared to be immediately sucked in by its intensity. The very first comments by the narrator engaged me completely. The use of soft, tender music instead of the usual suspenseful choices in a crime presentation lulls the viewer right into the relationship between Jessi and Tommy and keeps you there. It beautifully augments the slowly rolling instant messages that draw the development of the relationship. The rhythm of the two together tinted the exchanges with a reflective eeriness that gives the viewer enough time to read, absorb and experience the eeriness of the whole situation. And the discovery at the end just blew my mind. A thoughtful and disturbing film that leaves you breathless and thinking.

Disappointing and cliché

[emmerindeed · 5/10 · 15 December 2013]

This documentary was incredibly disappointing. The story definitely piqued my interest after watching CATFISH, but after only 20 minutes I was incredibly bored with its presentation and, especially, the narration.

It's put together like an incredibly cheesy story, the way it's narrated by one of the people involved makes it feel unauthenticated and overplayed. I found myself rolling my eyes quite a few times, "She started sending me photos... and, well, you can guess where it went from there".

I feel that documentaries work best when facts are presented in an interesting and creative way, usually in a way in which you can make your own conclusions. My first thought was that Montgomery was a disgusting man, but I really tired of the film telling my this over and over again.

When the monotone voice claims "Wow, so intense", I have to laugh. I can't say this documentary was for me, maybe it will be great for those who maybe prefer something that resembles a dramatic reading, or a lifetime movie.

Overall, I found it boring, cliché, cheesy, and rather annoying. Perhaps I prefer documentaries when the narrator is not playing the part of a character, and is stating facts and setting the scene, rather than relaying emotions with corny, monotone fluff sentences.

Very poorly constructed, cheaply-made documentary

[LilyDaleLady · 1/10 · 27 April 2015]

Having read about this case, and also having seen the pseudo-documentary "Catfish", I was drawn to view this film. It is a documentary; the OTHER 2012 film also called "Tallhotblond" is a fictional treatment of the story directed by Courtney Cox. I have not seen that, but I can't imagine it could possibly be done more poorly than this.

The worst part? It is "narrated" by an actor pretending to be the victim, which of course means fictionalized invented dialog that never happened. OK in a fiction treatment, NOT OK in a serious documentary. The death of this innocent young man is an appalling tragedy, but putting words in his mouth is just lame. The SECOND worst part is how much of the content is interviews with a psychologist who had NO (zero!) involvement with the case, never met any of the participants or interviewed them, and is simply pontificating in a moral/emotional way he is not entitled to about the case. You might as well have spent time interviewing my Aunt Tilly.

A lot of time is given to the murderer -- "marinesniper" was his internet name -- who is self-serving and making excuses and blaming others for the fact that he MURDERED an innocent man that he incorrectly believed was a love rival for an internet flirtation with a woman he idiotically thought was really a "tall hot blond" and only 18. Of course, she was no such thing. He'd never even met her in person.

The whole film basically is a blame fest on the lady (Mary), a 46 year old, lonely housewife in a failing marriage, who disguised herself as her attractive young daughter Jessie while online. This is treated as if she herself were a criminal for indulging in what I am sure seemed like harmless, pretend flirting.

Not one person (the shooter, the victim's family, the pontificating psychologist, the woman's ex-husband) seem to have considered that a homely, lonely middle-aged woman could have probably never gotten flirtatious attention and attracted sexual desire WITHOUT some kind of false internet persona. BTW, this is the exact situation of the film "Catfish" (though nobody was murdered or harmed in anyway in that story) -- some young men were FOOLED by a middle-aged, plain-looking lady who was enjoying some sexy internet flirting. That woman was ALSO using the persona of her teenage daughter (but with photographs of a total stranger she found online).

What this really tells us is NOT about the horrors of the internet -- where what you think are friends are phonies -- but shows us just how miserable life can be if you are an older woman, perhaps not physically attractive or overweight. You have no options for romance in real life, and to get flirtations or romance even on the internet, you must lie. Had Mary Sheiler tried to attract "marinesniper" (a lonely guy her own age!), he would not have spent 2 minutes willing to talk to her, because she was not "tall, nor blond, nor hot" enough to spike his interest.

Are homely, plain or overweight women in mid-life condemned therefore to sterile lives of total loneliness and rejection? That seems to be the conclusion of this documentary, which has the nerve to blame Mary (who never faced any charges whatsoever) for the murder of young Brian! and let the real murderer off the hook. On what planet does a jilted lover (no matter how deluded about his "loved one") get the right to MURDER anyone he sees as a rival? Surprisingly, this was DIRECTED by a woman (Barbara Shroeder). I wonder how old she was when she made this film, because she is utterly lacking in sympathy for this woman -- who lost her marriage, her husband and her relationship to her own daughter because of her deceptive flirtations online (most of which did not lead to any murder or mayhem). Her judgment was awful, her use of her daughter's photos pretty sleazy -- but she is a sad and lonely case. Not a killer! BTW: I can't think of a cheaper shot than to use so many photos of Ms. Sheiler, with the intent of letting viewers know "she's a real DOG, isn't she? nobody any man would ever desire".

On top of this, the film is painfully slow and relies on showing typed instant messages rather than any action or investigation. Worst example of misogynist reportage I have seen in a very long time. Avoid.

It could have been a great doc....

[a_kearney · 5/10 · 1 February 2012]

I finally watched this last night after hearing some positive words about it but was ultimately disappointed in the end. The subject is very interesting and the story twists and is of course shocking. As it appears, the budget is small but even still the makers have fallen short and made a piece that looks cheap and drags along for a significant part of the central section. Contributions are sparse and contributors are few, too few for a film with a running time in excess of an hour making the whole thing feel repetitive and dull. The main challenge in this film was always going to be conveying the relationships and re creating the online conversations but as much of a challenge as it may have been, others would have seen it as an opportunity to capitalise on a creative ability to keep it interesting and engaging. I personally began to feel like a voyeur reading into someone else's private conversations which I'm fairly sure and hope wasn't intended. It just felt uncomfortable, repetitive and tedious, large sections of fading text that could have been done so much better. The use of narration is also bizarre and again uncomfortable leaving you asking how Barbara Schroeder could have possibly thought this was the best means of narrating the film? If anything, it takes away from the story and definitely doesn't add anything and one can only presume that it was used for shock value, which if that is the case she should be ashamed. The opinions that are expressed in the narrative are bizarre and leave you questioning how she could possibly make the assumptions that she does and speak the mind of the person who is narrating. Without creating spoilers I'll leave that there. As the story progresses and new contributors begin to appear there are two vital characters that you are very keen to hear from. They do not appear, unwilling to be interviewed which is understandable. The issue is of course sensitive and many people have been hurt but you do wonder, had a better known and perhaps more experienced film maker taken the reigns of this project could they have secured the interview? They are in the end vital components to the story and you do very much want to hear what they have to say. As much as I understand why they may not have wanted to participate it does leave a big gap in the whole piece. Ultimately with all factual work the subject is king and this is a film that explores a tragic story and raises a highly important issue which can only be a good thing. From a film making point of view this is not well made and it frustrates me as to how much of a missed opportunity it was. It should have been a piece where people were saying 'have you seen this yet!?' and reached a far wider audience than it probably has. Well done to them for telling the story and getting it out there, I just wish it had been done a whole lot better.

Too bias to be called a documentary

[Ragnhildr · 1/10 · 4 February 2015]

Thomas Montgomery, a racist ephebophile with delusions of grandeur, brutally murders a former co-worker in cold blood, and this "documentary" is "narrated" by the deceased 22-year old.

The entire movie is nothing but a mockery of the victim, Brian Barrett. After being slaughtered by Thomas Montgomery in what appears to be a planned attack, he is unable to speak for himself, but the shameless creators of this movie have no problem putting words in his mouth.

Despite her only crime is being a catfish, this movie does nothing but try to show that the entire blame lies with "Jessi".

Truly the most disgusting "documentary" I have ever seen. They might as well have spat on Brian's grave.

Bad movie

[truxter · 1/10 · 6 April 2010]

trying to make a movie out of a pervert is sick. Voting this trash higher than 1 is for the twisted people who need to be in jail with the old man. Complete Garbage don't act like there are no bad guys don't act like the dead minor is somehow responsible. This movie is sick and this movie is a waste of $1 at red box.there needs to be a warning on the dang thing saying it's about a predator and a murderer, there should be a warning that the psychiatrist talking during this has a huge runny nose. they actually quote the whole cyber sex crap right through the whole movie.. I mean there is no movie, you just see bad grammar and hear some dude talking in a mono tone.