Déja Spikes UPP 101The director Steve James of The Interrupters takes viewers on a journey through the brutal streets of Southside Chicago and the efforts to curb the violence plaguing these streets and their residents. In The Interrupters, three violence interrupters each dwell on their past incidents with the street violence they once employed to attempt to steer young people on the right track. The documentary's primary focus is the urban violence epidemic that was running rampant on Chicago's streets during the development of the documentary. With Chicago being heavily portrayed in the media, specifically the Englewood neighborhood which was shown in the documentary, it is apparent that violence was and continues to be an issue of popular concern. Upset citizens as well as unfamiliar outsiders often express their concerns about the violent behavior, exclaiming that "something needs to be done about the crime in Chicago." The Interrupters explores the efforts of people genuinely oriented with curtailing the violence that puts Chicago's citizens, explicitly youth, at risk. In 2011, The Interrupters' release year, Englewood had more murders than any other police district in the city (Moore 1). Englewood's crime problem is expanded because of other urban woes troubling the neighborhood. Unemployment in and around Englewood is an extraordinary 35 percent. Consequently, it is one of the poorest enclaves in Chicago (Moore 7). The documentary uses the stories of Caprysha, a teenage parolee who lives in a halfway house, "Lil' Mikey", who is recently released from prison and wanting to provide a better example for his siblings, and Flamo, a young man who is enraged by the arrest of his mother and brother and yearns for his own form of violent justice, to explore the struggles caused by crime and violence that are employed on the citizens of Chicago. The most prominent argument of the documentary seems to be that transformation from the distorted cultural norms of crime and violence is actually conceivable through the testimonies of the three violence interrupters. This argument appears to be based on theoretical speculation, only supported by the personal accounts of the three interrupters. There was no formal research done. The individual experiences and lifestyles of the three violence interrupters serves as the formalized foundation for this philosophy. The documentary portrays the notion that although one may fall victim to the misconduct and brutality that afflicts the community, it is possible to overcome infectious obstacles with guidance and support. This argument is supported by the first interrupter, Ameena Matthews, who is a former gang member the daughter of the founder of the Black P. Stones gang. After being shot, she left the gang life and transformed into a spiritual Muslim. During The Interrupters, Matthews uses her experience and street credibility, to serve as a grief counselor for the family of Derrion Albert, a teenager whose horrific beating death made national headlines. Additionally, Matthews mentors and counsels Caprysha, providing her with tough love in the hopes of getting her to obey the terms of her parole while eventually getting her life on the right track. The argument of potential transformation is further exemplified through the second interrupter, Cobe Williams. Williams, a product of gangs, homicide and narcotics, served twelve years in prison for attempted murder and drug trafficking. Williams transformed into a devout family man and devoted his life to making sure his son had a better life than he did. Williams works with two brothers who cannot keep the peace between each other. He also mentors Flamo and "schools" him with learned knowledge to protect him from the dangers of seeking street revenge. The final illustration of the "about-face" argument is through the third interrupter, Eddie Bocanegra. Bocanegra spent fourteen years in jail for killing a rival gang member. After his release, he threw himself into community work and began teaching art classes. Bocanegra works closely with "Lil Mikey" and even takes him to the barber shop he robbed to make a heartfelt apology and further demonstrate that troublemakers do have the potential to "do the right thing". With Bocanegra's efforts to change and better himself, he wished to apologize to his victim's unforgiving family. However, through Bocanegra's work, he was ready to forgive himself. The turnaround concept seems to read true in the film. Preceding the guidance and consultancy from Cobe Williams, Flamo was able to impede his desire for pugnacious revenge and was last seen in uniform at a security job. This strengthens the theory because although Flamo spent more than half of his 32 years in prison, he was able to turn his life around with the help from someone once in his shoes. The concept also reads true regarding "Lil Mikey" who, obtained a job as a gardener and put his violent past behind him. However, this theory hits a bump in the road, Caprysha ends up back at a juvenile detention center for violation of her parole. This yields that all interventions will not be successful. In order to provide a more realistic approach as well as clearer insight into the issue of urban violence, The Interrupters should have deepened their argument by researching how often at-risk youth and young adults transform their delinquent behavior and how long this change actually lasts. The interviews with gang members and families of victims as well as graphic scenes of heightened violence seemed repetitive in its solid mindset of anger and frustration. The documentary failed to display citizens who actually are not upset with the community they live in or dispute that troublemakers will ever change their ways. A part two of the documentary would be immensely helpful to see if the interrupters' efforts were successful in the long run in regards to their interventions and to evaluate if their efforts have bettered the city of Chicago and its ills as a whole. BibliographyMoore, Natalie. "Chicago's highest murder rate in Englewood." WBEZ 91.5, 5 Jan. 2012."The Interrupters." Frontline. PBS. 29 July 2011.

The problem with gang violence in Chicago hasn't changed much (for better or worse) in decades. In that light, "The Interrupters" can't be considered timely, and it certainly doesn't expose a new and growing problem. But in focusing on a group of dedicated violence interrupters, writer Alex Kotlowitz and documentary filmmaker Steve James ("Hoop Dreams"), stepping away from his usual sports focus, capture the cycle of violence in such a complete way that you can finally start to see how it could in fact end.CeaseFire is a violence prevention group that largely consists of former convicts and people who have spent time in prison. They dedicate a large portion of their time to being present in the communities where violence strikes and stopping conflicts before they escalate into violence. They also make themselves available as resources and confidants to individuals in need of a calming influence.Essentially, these interrupters do what the police can't, even though none of the subjects come out and say it directly, nor does James imply it in a heavy-handed fashion. The people in these neighborhoods don't trust the police and fear the police, whereas these interrupters are adult role models who they can relate to/who can relate to them, people they respect.James chronicles a year from summer through spring, or the most violent time of year to a time of year when hope grows anew. He focuses on the efforts of three violence interrupters and a few of the young people they each reach out to during the course of this year. The first is Ameena Matthews, daughter of notorious Chicago gang leader Jeff Fort, who at one point became involved in a drug ring. She's easily the most magnetic figure in the film and given that families of violence victims seek her comfort specifically, it says a lot about her strength as a community leader. Throughout the film she delivers powerful and moving speeches suggestive of her strength, but as she works with a loving but emotionally troubled teenager named Caprysha, we learn even she has moments of doubt.Next is Cobe Williams, more soft spoken, but whose prison time give him a street cred that finds him able to talk to and work with some hostile individuals. His work with a gangbanger named Flamo, who he comes into contact with at a serious boiling point, is one of the more powerful arcs in the film.Lastly there's Eddie Bocanegra, who does art work with students but spent half his life in prison for murder. His redemption story proves more than any that there's hope for those who make these fatal mistakes."The Interrupters" explores the deepest depths and root causes of violence, enough to even the most self-assured pacifist consider reality that is the cycle of violence and that it's not simply a matter of just not letting it be an option. Many of the subjects discuss the role of parents being there or not there and how they are role models whether they want to be or not, as well as how violence has become part of the culture because of the value placed on pride and ego.Like any great documentary, "The Interrupters" is a conversation starter. Yes, it's edited in a powerful way will elicit emotion, but there are so many discussions worth having based on what the subjects say and do and what we observe. It's really hard to capture the entire spectrum of the conversation on a subject as general as violence, but somehow James manages to do it. And nothing he presents is black and white (not referring to race); if you pay attention through the entire film, you rationally cannot make generalizations about the roots of violence.There are moments when the film drags a bit as it takes a step back to cover the human interest element of the film, the tragedy of it all. That's important, but its call to action is loud and impossible to ignore, so much so that you want it to continue its search for an answer, or in this case, to see if the work CeaseFire does really makes a difference. It certainly does. "The Interrupters" proves as much. At the same time, we become so aware of how they can only be in once place at a time. A handful of occasions during the film we hear someone talk about some act of violence unfolding somewhere else right now as the camera is rolling. It's a wake-up call that unless the City of Chicago or the government take an extensive, grass-roots approach to ending violence, there's no way that even these amazing individuals can end it.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit moviemusereviews.com

Only 9 reviews?!! This movie needs to be seen! I live in Chicago, and every morning the Chicago Tribune has a headline tallying the overnight wounded and dead. It's not at all unlike the beginning days of the Gulf War, where every news hour would begin with the number of soldiers killed that day. The difference being that those stories gradually subsided as the numbers dwindled, and they were based on deaths in an actual military conflict. There are neighborhoods in Chicago that are as much like war zones as any area of Afghanistan, but no one is paying attention."The Interrupters" doesn't really try to address why no one is paying attention. It doesn't need to, because everyone pretty much knows the answer even if they're not willing to admit it to themselves. These aren't rural white kids getting killed for their country; these are poor, disenfranchised black kids who most people don't care about. Instead, this documentary follows a few members of CeaseFire, a nonprofit group comprised of past gang members, street criminals, etc. who are now using a tactic of intervention to stop chains of violence before they spiral out of control. These people are deeply admirable. They're not trying to break up gangs, they're not police informers. They're simply trying to make one person understand how pointless it is to shoot another person, no matter what grievances are at play.This film is by Steve James, the same director who did the tremendous "Hoop Dreams," and if it doesn't have that film's epic scope, it has a more immediate sense of urgency.After watching "The Interrupters" my wife and I were instantly online looking into ways to support CeaseFire. I hope others do the same.Grade: A+

Very interesting topic and well executed but way too long. I am sure they recorded many more stories as interesting as these that are included but the filmmaker did not include them because the film should not be too long. In my view editing should go further and cut more scenes to make it 80-90 min movie. It would make this film much stronger keeping the essence and prevent viewers from checking their watches. What we get is diluted story and sometimes boring as some scenes are redundant in their message or information. Better editing making this film much shorter would make it much more interesting without scarifying the importance of the story. Overall it is important and interesting documentary.