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| Courtesy of ESPN |
I’ve
been sitting here for a while trying to figure out how write about O.J.: Made
in America, ESPN’s ambitious new documentary about the notorious athlete/pitchman/actor/probable
murderer, without sounding hyperbolic, but there’s really no way around it. The
decades-spanning epic, which clocks in at nearly eight hours (beginning this
Saturday – see the complete schedule below), is quite simply a masterpiece of
journalistic storytelling.
I’m
pretty sure the network feels the same way. They recently gave director Ezra
Edelman’s staggering film a brief theatrical release so it can qualify for
Academy Award consideration.
Debuting
on the heels of FX’s popular mini-series The People v. O.J. Simpson, this
project is much more wide-ranging in scope. Yes, the doc spends plenty of time
chronicling the murder trial that transformed the once-beloved icon into one of
America’s most reviled villains, as well as how it shifted news coverage to the
disgusting, infotainment model we’re now accustomed to.
But
it also lays the groundwork for why his defense team’s focus on race – particularly
when Simpson spent most of the 1960s distancing himself from the Civil Rights
Movement and saying things like, “I’m not black. I’m O.J.” – capitalized on
generations of injustice within the Los Angeles Police Department and the city
as a whole.
The
scope of O.J.: Made in America is incredible. It doesn’t get to the murders
of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman until Part 3, but it never feels like
Edelman is spinning his wheels – there’s far too much story for that. And, boy,
does he tell that story in a skilled, compelling way.
Granted,
it’s initially jarring that a documentary about Simpson spends so much time
focusing on seemingly unrelated aspects of racism in America. But that’s where the
second half of the movie’s title comes in. Once all the puzzle pieces click
into place, you realize how brilliantly crafted this sprawling narrative has
been from the start.
Edelman
performs an extremely difficult magic trick. Through astonishing archival
footage and insightful interviews with key characters in the Simpson story (including
friends, former colleagues, family members, lawyers, police officers, etc.) the
director makes viewers forget about the current incarnation of Simpson and
reminds them why he used to be a revered public figure.
It’s
a smart move, considering many in the audience only know “murder trial O.J.”
They’re too young to remember him as an NFL Hall-of-Famer. Or his performances in
movies like Roots, Capricorn One and The Naked Gun. Or his almost 20-year
stint as Hertz’s corporate spokesman.
People
tend to forget about those accolades when you’re charged with butchering your
ex-wife and a waiter. But Edelman rightly points out that’s why the idea of
Simpson as a murder suspect was so disorienting at first. To get younger viewers
into that mindset, he spends the first two or three hours chronicling Simpson’s
glory days, as well as the constantly escalating racial tensions in Los
Angeles.
The result
of the narrative structure is that when we learn the details of his disturbing marriage
to Nicole Brown – particularly the years of domestic abuse she endured – it almost
comes as a shock. After that, the film picks up further narrative momentum with
Part 3 and Part 4, which take viewers through the murder investigation, the trial
and posit that generations of racist police officers and politicians in Los
Angeles ultimately paved the way for a logic-defying verdict.
O.J.:
Made in America is equally infuriating, horrifying and tragic. Edelman makes
it abundantly clear that he believes Simpson is guilty (interviews with his
former manager and an old cop friend are particularly damning) and that the brutal
deaths of two people were overshadowed by grandstanding lawyers and a news media
more interested in entertaining viewers than informing them. That aspect of the
case continues to have ramifications today.
Once
the jurors deliver the “not guilty” verdict, Edelman spends Part 5 focusing on
two decades worth of aftermath. Lawyers explain their blunders and successes, colleagues
discuss their heartbreak and disillusionment, and Fred Goldman walks viewers
through the civil trial that found Simpson “liable” in the deaths of his son
and Nicole. That jury awarded the family more than $30 million in damages –
most of which they never saw because Simpson established shell corporations to
hide the money.
But
the final entry also offers one of the most baffling epilogues in recent
memory, chronicling Simpson’s later years in Miami, surrounding himself with
yes-men and fame junkies. It all leads to the bonkers conclusion, with Simpson receiving
a length prison sentence for his role in an absolutely stupid robbery in Las
Vegas.
O.J.:
Made in America takes its viewers on a captivating, meticulously researched
journey that somehow makes me wish it was even longer than eight hours. I can’t
think of higher praise than that. 2016 still has seven months to go, but right
now it’s the best movie of the year.
O.J.:
Made in America is not rated. Screener contained strong language, disturbing
images and brief nudity that will be edited for television.
Grade:
A+
Broadcast
schedule:
Part
1 airs June 11 at 9 p.m. on ABC (re-airs June 14 at 7 p.m.
on ESPN)
Part
2 airs June 14 at 9 p.m. on ESPN
Part
3 airs June 15 at 9 p.m. on ESPN
Part
4 airs June 17 at 9 p.m. on ESPN
Part
5 airs June 18 at 9 p.m. on ESPN
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