You know the story, all too well.
The H-Bomb: On May 6, 1993, three young boys- Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore- were found savagely murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. It was a crime that shook the small, rural community to it’s very core. The people of West Memphis demanded justice, and demanded it quickly. But the local police seemed to be at a loss. It was almost impossible to imagine anyone being capable of such a heinous act, and the initial investigation yielded no suspects.
Eventually, suspicion fell on 18-year-old Damien Echols, a non-conformist who often dressed entirely in black, listened to heavy metal, and was believed to be a Satanist. Given his appearance and overall creepy reputation, Echols seemed like the perfect fit for this crime, and he, along with fellow teenagers Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr., was put on trial for the murders, convicted, and railroaded into prison. Baldwin and Misskelley were sentenced to life in prison, Echols was sentenced to death.
Seemed open and shut… except it wasn’t. During the trial, there were aspects of the prosecution that simply didn’t add up, and in the following years, even more holes appeared in the case against Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley. Eventually, DNA evidence surfaced that only further indicated that the wrong people were in prison, and that the true perpetrator was still out there. This led to a two decade long legal battle, one that became a pet cause of many a celebrity, to free three young men who were, in all likelihood, wrongfully convicted.
Well, I suppose it was bound to happen. The story of the The West Memphis Three and the murders that led to their persecution is like a John Grisham novel that played out in grim reality. The grave injustice that took place is so incredible, and so scary, that it would make one hell of a movie. Trouble is, there have already been four movies- four documentaries- made on this subject; Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s excellent Paradise Lost trilogy, and the Peter Jackson produced West of Memphis. These non-fiction films covered every conceivable aspect of the case, from the initial murder investigation, to the trials, to the bitter-sweet resolution in 2011.
This begs the question, what can Devil’s Knot, a new dramatic feature based on the case, possibly add? What insight can it give? What can it tell us about this tragic cluster fuck that we don’t already know…? Not a damn thing. Directed by Canadian auteur Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter, Chloe), Devil’s Knot had just about everything going for it that a movie could have; a fine cast, headlined by Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon, a compelling true crime story, everything… except a point.
It really doesn’t matter how well crafted the film is, or how strong the performances are, anyone familiar with the saga of the West Memphis Three will be about twenty steps ahead of it the whole way. Whenever our hero, Ron Lax (Firth), a private eye working pro bono for the defense, searches for evidence to exonerate the accused, we’re not wondering whether or not he’ll succeed, we’re simply waiting for events to unfold the way we know they inevitably will. Kinda kills whatever suspense the film was hoping to build.
What’s worse, Lax himself, as depicted here, is a dull, sketchily defined character who’s altruistic motivations are less than convincing. From the very beginning, he is absolutely, one hundred and ten percent sure that these three teenagers are innocent… just because he is. Firth is a fine actor, of course, but one cannot expect him to perform miracles, and since he is saddled with such a one dimensional character, there just isn’t much he can do with it. Lax is a real life figure, who did in fact volunteer his services to the defense, but his sole defining characteristic in the film is his earnest idealism, and dramatically, that simply does not suffice.
The film’s other protagonist, Pam Hobbs (Witherspoon), the mother of one of the murdered boys, is given more depth and definition, as she starts to doubt the guilt of the three accused… and suspects someone a little closer to home. Witherspoon is perfectly fine, though the script gives her a painfully embarrassing scene in which she visits her son’s classroom after his death, to have the teacher grade his math homework. It’s a very Hollywood moment that was meant to be poignant, but instead is simply one of the most bullshit sequences that I’ve ever seen in any movie. That a filmmaker of Egoyan’s caliber would include such emotionally manipulative hokum is truly disillusioning.
The rest of the ensemble, including Egoyan regulars Elias Koteas and Bruce Greenwood, as well as Dane Dehaan and Alessandro Nivola, are all solid in roles that are sadly underwritten. One character I really wanted more of was the infamous John Mark Byers (Kevin Durand), the outspoken stepfather of one of the victims. Colorful and vitriolic, to put it mildly, he was a central part of all four documentaries on the case, but in this film, he’s pushed way into the background, and is only given a handful of scenes. To the untrained eye, it would appear that Durand’s portrayal of Byers is borderline cartoonish, however, having seen the real man in action, I know for a fact that, if anything, Durand is underplaying him.
Overall, Devil’s Knot completely pales in comparison to the powerful documentaries that have preceded it. It’s not quite what I would call a bad film, as there were times when I was moved, and even angered, by the injustice that was unfolding. The competence of the filmmakers isn’t the problem. The problem is, I’ve heard this story before, told far more comprehensively and effectively, by the people who actually lived these events, instead of actors simply playing make believe. Those who haven’t seen the Paradise Lost films, or West of Memphis, and know nothing about the case, might get something out of Devil’s Knot… maybe. For everyone else, though, the movie is dramatically pointless.
