troy-corbin I've seen very few movies/documentaries that have been this boring along with such big egos who think they know how killers think. It's like sitting drinking at a bar where people are plastered and speaking out of there rear like they know all there could be known.At one point in the movie the person who lost his Mother by murder when he was 10 years old tries to speak for all surviving people of murdered loved ones; very narrow vision to categorize all people the same. Later in this commentary this person also states that other persons view points are misconceptions; but his views and writings are brilliant master pieces; talk about a huge ego.I watched this hoping there would be something good at the end (not unlike a bad horror movie); but not to happen.If you are someone who likes to listen to other peoples narrow opinions without acknowledging persons view points outside of their group; this may be the documentary for you.

melissa-harris Perhaps this movie details one man's search for the meaning of death, exploring both his mother's death, as well as few other close-to-home murders, but his likability goes down the drain within 20 minutes of listening to his ego-stroking. On many occasions, James Ellroy comes off sounding like a sex-offender as well as mentally unstable.Dispute his 'profane' and 'politically incorrect' language, which i excuse as artistic expression, the man really does not have anything worth saying. I found myself scrounging for any kind of meaningful consequence i could tear from this film, but found none. It is my belief that this movie would be wildly popular with the type of cult following the documentary shows at various book signings and public appearances. Never having read his literature, i cannot comment on the nature of his books (perhaps they are excellent!), but i may suggest that this film is not worth watching unless you hold the man in as much esteem as he seems to hold himself in.

ricky-1750 First, for all the times other reviewers may have seen the film, they have a few errors in their comments. The Black Dahlia victim was Elizabeth Short - not Mary - and as to the scenes in which Mr. Elroy is discussing his work before an audience, I saw no discomfort from the audience as he made his "welcome pedophiles ... " intro. In fact, it is clear from the beginning of the film that Mr. Elroy is a realist, and the reality of life and death, can be a very vulgar sort of thing.I found this film to be an amazing look at the author and at two murders which affected him profoundly (1) the murder of his mother with whom he had a difficult relationship as a child, and (2) the murder of Elizabeth Short.For Ellroy, Elizabeth Short becomes something of a stand in for his mother. Growing up, Ellroy comes to think of both women as being "whores" who probably got what they deserved by saying "no" to the wrong john. However, over time, he has come to see that both cases were and are more complex than that, and that neither woman could be tagged with a label like that and left otherwise undiscovered.Mr. Ellroy's language is admittedly crude, and I would not recommend this film for children. The graphic photographs of Elizabeth Short's badly mutilated body are enough for me to say this film is best left for those with a fair amount of emotional maturity.In the end, it is a film about a man determined to understand who and what his mother really was, and the mother/son bond that existed so many years ago.This film has levels in its levels. You could watch it 100 times and get something new out of it each time. I note that some other reviewers made much of Mr. Ellroy's dislike of Kennedy and Clinton, but the important part of that is the why ... because Mr. Ellroy sees both as misogynistic users of women. This is a man who really believes in having a deep lasting commitment to one woman, his wife who he clearly adores. She refers to him as a "feminist" because his female characters are not caricatures, they are full-blown and complex individuals.That's what I got from this film ... it takes Elizabeth Short and the author's mother from caricatures and makes you want to explore until you find the real person underneath.I've only read one of Mr. Ellroy's books ("The Black Dahlia"), but I will be buying and reading the rest of them now based on the power of this documentary.

clydus I've been drawn to this movie in a morbid sort of way. It is disturbing on many levels. Straight out we know that James Ellroy's mother was brutally strangled and the murder will be revisited and this has fashioned him as an authored. He is by the way the author of L.A. Confidential, which was made into a movie. The movie goes deeper than simply examining his mother's murder. It also examines the famous Black Dahlia murder involving Mary Short, which also played a role in Ellroy's becoming a murder mystery writer. Not wanting to be a spoiler here, the movie is more graphic than many horror films in the murders examined and Ellroy's prose is tossed in from time to time, describing why humans kill, makes for a chilling, yet informative kind of viewing. This film is not for squeamish folks. I would not let my children watch it. Some of the stuff was that disturbing. But, like I said, for some reason, like a moth to a flame, I've been drawn to this film over and over again.