BLUE CAPRICE Review

There is a haunting tone, an eerie atmosphere that surrounds every action that takes place in director Alexandre Moors debut feature, Blue Caprice. Walking into this film I was unsure of what exactly I was getting myself into, only that I'd heard good word of mouth surrounding it and that the poster offered an intriguing yet mysterious look into the story behind the Washington DC sniper tragedy that occurred over a decade ago now in which ten people senselessly lost their lives. Naturally, I remember these events and was a little hesitant when approaching a film that told the killers side of the story when it only seemed to be bringing more attention to individuals who don't deserve that type of recognition, but where I would have rather seen a movie telling the story about the life or lives of those who had theirs stolen a la another Sundance hit, Fruitvale Station, which caused waves earlier this year. While I still went into the film with little to no knowledge of what it was going to actually depict or what the backstory behind the two men who were found guilty of these crimes were, I wasn't ready to appreciate the film because I didn't think it was necessary that it be made. I held prejudice against it simply on the basis that it seemed to exist because the events it would be presenting were well-known and the people behind the cameras and script knew they would likely be able to garner a good amount of attention with this kind of material. While there are surely plenty of other routes Moors and his team could have taken to achieve the level of recognition they are now getting for this film, the film itself and not the motives behind it or the politics of its existence are what's under examination here and in that regard Moors has crafted an extremely intimate character study that gives voice to a young man who never felt he had much of a choice in the world. This isn't an exploitative venture, but a film looking to bring some sense of reason, of justification to actions where no apology or logic can ever make up for the pain they caused. This is understood and not excused, but at least attempts to bring some kind of understanding, if not answers, to the all-encompassing question of "why" that no doubt still plagues relatives of the victims to this day.