It might look like Producer/Director Marta Cunningham might have tried to create an even handed film about Lawrence King and his killer, Brandon McInerney, but alas...her bias shows. For one thing, Cunningham tries way too hard to convince the viewer that Brandon killed Lawrence because of ties to neo-Nazis. And in order to do this, she intentionally leaves out something vital, which explains just exactly why Brandon's jury was deadlocked and members ultimately came to support him.Joy Epstein, a lesbian, and the Assistant Principal not only supported and encouraged Lawrence, she also gave him a gift card so he could buy girls' shoes that he wore on campus (perhaps the very ones mentioned in the film). But she also issued a memo to the faculty that Lawrence was not to be bothered by them for his behavior. This directly led to him parading himself in front of groups of boys, following them to the boys' restroom, and taunting them with such things as saying, "You know you want me."So in the film, you are led to believe Brandon was the sole target of Lawrence's behavior. But the above, reported during trial coverage by Los Angeles Times, shows otherwise. Now you know the rest of the story.There is also the talk of "tolerance" and the use of Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis's "Same Love," so you know where Cunningham is going with this.Shameful. Just stick with the facts, ma'am, no matter how much it hurts.

In the opening minutes, I thought this documentary would be about another school shooting -- and it was, but not the kind I assumed. Valentine Road exhaustively documents the events surrounding the murder of an openly queer (and stunningly brave) middle school student by one of his classmates, a killing at the intersection of numerous questions of homophobia, race, education and justice. One of the many talking heads says early on that every adult involved in the situation failed to do their job, and that's just about right.There are moments when the film demonizes the killer, showing close-ups of an intimidating hooded figure, but also moments where he comes across as tragic, the victim of parental neglect and a social environment that lead him to hate. This makes the latter part of the film, dedicated to the murderer's trial, somewhat awkward -- it's hard to root for any possible outcome.Valentine Road allows each side a chance to explain themselves, with the only common ground being a tremendous well of pain. Most of the speakers don't acquit themselves well, with several winding up blaming the victim for just being too flamboyant. Formally, it's a fairly ordinary TV documentary, with some thuddingly unsubtle touches. The closing montage set to "Same Love" is particularly cringeworthy, and leaves the viewer with an easy-to-swallow message of gay acceptance instead of the lingering complexities of the case and the seemingly insoluble question of how to respond to such an act of violence. But for presenting those complexities for most of its running time, Valentine Road is definitely worth watching.

This documentary was awfully slow. Many of the interviews are simply irrelevant, children rambling on and on about one or other of the boys. Other interviews seem edited to making certain Brandon supporters look stupid, and the prosecutors beyond question. For example, it doesn't bother exploring the reasons why Brandon was tried as an adult, which probably led to the first mistrial. The prosecutors show video of Brandon fighting while in juvenile detention, but if you Google the incident, guards at the facility said he was actually very well behaved and the incident was not serious. It looks for answers for this senseless tragedy. It gives the full background on the dysfunctional childhood of both boys, and makes a strong case to tie the killing to homophobia and racism, although the real life evidence of that wasn't quite so strong. Due to the sheer numbers of interviews however, the film is very useful to anyone exploring this incident. Overall, it gets a passing grade, but just barely.

Last year we had the powerful documentary Bully from Lee Hirsch, which looked at the insidious issue of bullying in American high schools and its impact. While it took a broad perspective on the complex issue, this new documentary from first time filmmaker Marta Cunningham takes a narrower focus, but is just as disturbing and revealing. In 2008 in the small Californian coastal town of Oxnard, 14-year old student Brandon McInerney shot and killed a fellow student Larry King. The effeminate King had been experimenting with his sexuality and was often teased by his fellow students. But when he made a Valentine's joke at McInerney's expense, the boy brought a gun to school and shot him. McInerney is serving a 21 year sentence for the crime, but the film depicts him as much of victim of society as he is a killer by exploring his background and his dysfunctional upbringing. Valentine Road is a character study of the two boys - the killer and his victim - and it explores their backgrounds and gives us insight into their troubled lives, finding some surprising common ground. The film also touches upon some serious issues, such as the flawed American legal system, its out of control gun culture, bigotry and intolerance, racism, its unforgiving attitude towards homosexuality, and even dysfunctional families. Cunningham has gone into a community still divided and bearing the scars of the horrible events for this moving account of a an American tragedy. She tries to remain balanced and non-judgmental in her approach, but it is obvious where her sympathies lie. She is compassionate and understanding, and has gained the trust of the community who open up about the tragedy. There is plenty of archival footage and news reports, as well as candid interviews with family, friends, teachers, lawyers and the police themselves which are very revealing. This is a complex issue and a powerful documentary that raises some disturbing questions.