jluck-77398 Clearly this was a very cool in depth look but I think America was a little tired of the story. Between the other doc done and the A&E show being put out just before this, the story had been told over and over. That being said, this was definitely the most in depth and will probably live on in history. Kudos to the team - must have been quite the undertaking.

evanston_dad A blistering and engrossing documentary about the O.J. Simpson murder trial that explores how the sensational event became a symbol for the racial tension that was just waiting to boil over in Los Angeles in particular and the United States in general.I was in college when the O.J. story happened, and I only half paid attention to it at the time, so it was fascinating for me to watch this film that seemed like a new version of an old story. The film makes no attempt to hide the filmmakers' opinion that the innocent verdict in the case was a gross miscarriage of justice, but I have to admit that, though I've always believed O.J. was guilty too, I would probably have acquitted him myself as a juror based on the dismal way the prosecution handled the case.But the grossest outrage about the whole event -- I felt it at the time and I felt it again watching the movie -- is that the murders that made the whole trial necessary in the first place were forgotten amid the racial baiting and the defense's willingness to capitalize on the emotions of an angry and disenfranchised black community. A seven-hour documentary may sound daunting at the beginning, but I challenge you not to binge watch it.Winner of the 2016 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, a complete no brainer of a win.Grade: A

paul2001sw-1 O.J. Simpson was born in unpromising circumstances, but blessed with good looks, charm, and an athletic talent, grew to become one of the most famous men in America: a genius footballer, and an African American who became popular amongst all races, though the latter in part was due to his own willingness to abandon his original racial identity. But his second marriage turned bad, his suave public image increasingly at odds with his brutal treatment of his wife; and eventually, she (and her friend, and probable lover) were murdered. O.J. was on the record as having threatened them, had no alibi, and forensic evidence pointed strongly to his guilt; when the police called him in, he went on the run in a near-suicidal state, and the police followed on the freeway, trying to talk him out of doing himself in. They succeeded in this, only for O.J. to mount an extraordinary defence, in which his lawyers effectively put the Los Angeles Police Department on trial for its long and despicable history of racism. After a trial of months, a mainly black jury took just a few hours to acquit.But ostracised by the white community in which he'd made his home, O.J. soon lost a civil suit (in a different court, with a lower standard of proof), and motivated (it seems) by his desire for adulation, he fell in with a bad crowd. The new gangsta-style O.J. was perhaps no more the real man than the all-round nice guy or the evil killer; eventually, he threatened (with menaces, and armed friends in tow) someone whom he suspected of stealing his stuff and was finally sentenced to a gaol sentence that was both excessive (in the context of his latest crime) and overdue. He remain in gaol today.The strength of 'O.J.: Made in America', a marathon documentary that retells this extraordinary story, is that it brings out every facet: his remarkable sporting talent, his plastic personality, the horror of the murders, the grim reality of being poor and black in L.A., the theatre of his arrest and trial, and the sordid nature of his eventual downfall. It's long - possibly overlong - but the title is apt: this is a story that could only have happened in the U.S.A., and it says more about the country than the lurid headlines might have suggested at the time. There's no happy ending for anyone here - but what once seemed like soap opera, now feels strangely like a portrait of a nation, and yes, a dark reflection on the American dream.

Duan If you think this will only be about the death of two white people by the hands of rich and successful black man, you will be in for a rude surprise. You are taken on a epic voyage back in time, through the great black southern migration, to the civil rights movement, how people view these epic times. How a person can come from an isolated community and be propelled into a new environment they have no prior exposure. While the documentary gives you deep exposure to the O.J. Simpson case, some people will say that this documentary will convince you that he committed the horrid murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman - I still have two questions - how did a person kill two people this violently and only have traces of blood on them and no bloody clothes; how in the hell was he able to pull this off within 45 minutes and catch a plane? I have more questions than ever. But, the best thing to do before you watch this documentary. Sit down, relax, open you eyes, let your curiosity take hold and go where the filmmakers take you.