The cast list in uncanny in this film. It would be an alright murder/mystery/court drama if the majority of people following the actual case didn't know most of the facts by now. It's a very very complex case, I've watched and read everything there is available, and I'm almost certain in my mind I know who the real killer is. It's a tragic, awful story, It does contain some upsetting scenes from the offset but again, if familiar with the case you'd have seen the real photos and film footage. Worth a watch, but misses a billion things out that are needed to understand it. Reece Witherspoon was fantastic as Pam Hobbs,

Prior to watching this film I had taken a class that spent about a month or so looking in-depth into the case of The West Memphis Three very heavily and even getting the opportunity to meet with Dan Stidham, Jessie Misskelly's defense attorney. So watching the film for the first time I was pretty critical to see how the characters would be portrayed and perhaps hint at specifically that Terry Hobbs had in fact been the real murderer. I was quite pleasantly surprised that the movie took a rather objective stand about the suspected murderer besides the three West Memphis teens, Damien, Jason, and Jessie. The movie presented the other theories that have surfaced; including as mentioned before, Terry Hobbs, John Mark Byers, and the mysterious "Mr. Bojangles". I appreciated those view points and really gave the viewer the chance to create their own theory. I thought the facts in the film were almost entirely accurate and had a few misconstrued details, but where won't one find that in a movie 'based' on real-life events. One of the things that I enjoyed thoroughly about the film was the credit and presence on Ron Lax in the trials of the three teens. In the film he took on the role of most likely the lead male character which I did not expect. When reading and researching the case by itself Lax does not really play a large part in the trials of the three teens. I felt as if this film gave Lax the credit he deserved as well as Stidham's dedication to the three teens when the two other attorneys dropped off after the sentence. Another character that I felt got a little lost in the film was Micheal Moore along with Chris Byers. All in all I felt like the film gave an accurate representation of facts and visual images to the story. However, the documentaries would hold more fact filled information if one desires more information about the West Memphis Three.

This is based on the real story of the murder three boys in 1993 West Memphis, Arkansas. Pam (Reese Witherspoon) and Terry Hobbs (Alessandro Nivola) lose her son Stevie. Along with Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore, the boys are brutally murdered in a local wooded area called Devil's Knot. Jessie Misskelley confesses. Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin are implicated. All three teens are charged for the boy's murder with the police claiming a demonic ritual. Ron Lax (Colin Firth) is a private investigator who becomes obsessed and volunteers to help the defense.I understand the resistance to this movie but director Atom Egoyan faces some difficulties due to the real story. Most people would say that the real killer has never been found. While people who still claim that the 3 teens killed the boys would find this movie, like the documentaries, very bias. Atom could have faked a killer like Oliver Stone's JFK with the black man in Bojangles or Terry Hobbs. What he gives in this movie is doubt. The person that personifies this is Reese Witherspoon with her amazing performance. First, Atom is able to nail the overwhelming sadness like he did in 'The Sweet Hereafter'. I'm also impressed that Atom didn't go out of his way to demonize the police. The scene with Detective Bryn Ridge getting Pam Hobbs' hair is so powerful and shows the pressure of the job. It is easy for arm-chair jury members watching the docs to ridicule the real-life jury and hate the cops. What this movie shows is how reasonable people could be so wrong and how easy things like this could happen with some poor police work.

I could realize why this movie is too low, it doesn't deserves a great answer from the normals.The story of the movie (which is really based on true attempts) is the only thing that saves it from being terrible at all, after that. the rest of the movie is disappointingly.But, terribly, this movie connects some things stupid from the story using them in the movie, making it feel disappointingly for a lot of people, just like (SPOILER) the decisions of the judgment to charge down the guilty for murder with... Heavy Metal music and black dressing, hey that's stupid at all, what's wrong with Heavy Metal music, with wearing black clothes and reading a little about occultism, just for that things, you're a serial murdered, that's not good.