pnkstr A man sitting in a chair telling his story. Not something I would usually seem interested in. However after five minutes in I was captivated. He is so well articulate, honest and has this hypnotic voice that just holds your attention. Such an incredible story and so well expressed. The way he describes situations makes you feel like you are there with him. One of the best documentaries by far.

mg75535 This documentary had so much potential. The story was there: a man who was wrongfully convicted, sentenced to death, begged to be executed and was finally released. However, the director decided to go with an unconventional story telling approach and the film suffers greatly for it. Instead of what we conventionally see in documentaries, where the film makers interview multiple people in the case and chronicle the investigation and journey the subject has gone through, David Sington basically lets Nick Yarris ramble into the camera for an hour and a half. At times, his incessant rambling bordered on unbearable and just annoying. I'm sure many people enjoy the unconventional approach to story telling, but for someone like me who's interested in the failings of our criminal justice system, I want to hear from more than one person. When I watch something about a person who was wrongfully convicted, I want to know how the hell did this happen? I want to know about the legal proceedings and the case. The entire time I was watching this I was thinking well what the hell happened to this woman? What do the detectives, prosecutors, etc. have to say about the damage they've done? Instead, I got a very disjointed non-linear story from only one person and a summary of the vocabulary words he used. It's not horrible, and it's not a necessarily a waste to watch, but there are so many other documentaries about the wrongfully accused and convicted that are so much more powerful and insightful than this one.

philipcfromnyc **** SPOILER ALERT -- THIS SUMMARY CONTAINS PLOT DETAILS ****In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that I am vehemently opposed to the death penalty under all circumstances. What I found extraordinary about Yarris's account is the dispassionate manner in which he tells his story, in the form of interviews and flashbacks to past events. Yarris is no choirboy -- this is made very clear when Yarris describes his successful escape from death row during the course of a transfer, and his time spent on the lam committing auto theft, robbery, and other serious crimes.Yet Yarris draws the viewer into his tale, in which the viewer learns about the botched handling of DNA evidence, which became available in the 1990s and which resulted in literally hundreds of prisoners (many on death row) across the nation being released from prison EVERY YEAR following the reversal of their convictions.We learn of Yarris's self-motivation and his ultimate success in teaching himself to read and to understand complex words, and his subsequent immersion into the world of books (thrillers, suspense novels, and nonfiction accounts -- one nonfiction account named "Crime and Punishment!").Yarris describes the manner in which he was prosecuted for assaulting a police officer, attempted murder of a police officer, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, and other charges stemming from his recapture. Clearly, Yarris is not the model prisoner or model citizen one would wish to have as a next door neighbor.But the inexcusable screw-ups in the handling of DNA evidence which finally exculpated Yarris make it clear that our criminal justice system is far from perfect, and that innocent people can and do get convicted, causing one to speculate as to the number of actually, factually innocent prisoners who have been executed, particularly in the decades before DNA evidence became available.At no point does Yarris engage in bathos or naked attempts to appeal to emotions. His account is calm, collected, and coherent at all times. Even his ultimate vindication and the reversal of his conviction are described without much emotion.What becomes clear is the psychological cost of sexual assault which is not addressed by therapeutic intervention (in this case, of Yarris himself as a youth). The writer was also left with serious doubts as to whether or not conditions on Pennsylvania's death row comport with Eighth Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.

Hydemine The first thing that struck me about this film was Mr Yarris's incredible story telling ability. It is non-fiction but I immediately had to IMDb it to check because I was sure he was an actor. His talent with words and elegance with delivery grows throughout the film. This, coupled with skillfully placed flash back scenes, completely immerse you into the story. Yarris's life could easily be argued as one of the most tragic ever to be lived. For a film which is essentially a 90 minute interview, I was completely blown away by how much it entertained me and moved me. A dark horse of quality film and story telling. Added to my repeat watch list and recommended to everyone I know.