Where things can get pretty igry ...Rick's Cafe Americain

Arnold Friedman, a well respected school teacher, was caught with a large stash of man-boy child pornography.  When the police discovered that he ran computer classes for young boys in his home, they launched an investigation (it appeared the classes were just for boys, but the movie never proffers an explanation).  Going house to house and interviewing, and often re-interviewing suggestively until they got what they wanted, the police built a case of child molestation against Arnold and his 19 year-old son Jesse.  Arnold and Jesse were arrested and charged with hundreds of counts of sodomy and other acts of molestation.

Arnold had many home movies of his family and, just before the crisis started, the oldest son, David Friedman, purchased a home video camera and recorded family discussions, debates and break downs, allowing us to be a fly on the wall of this quite dysfunctional family.  Additionally, the filmmakers interviewed, modern day, the police who investigated the case, the judge, David and Jesse, the mother and wife Edina Friedman, children who recalled being molested, children who swore nothing ever happened and other bit players.  Interestingly, the dominant character in the movie was probably David who, I kid you not, is the #1 Birthday Clown in NYC (though I seriously wonder if he has kept that title after this movie).  David clearly has some serious issues and comes across like someone who believes that if he tells himself, and everyone else, that it isn’t true long enough that it won’t be.

I was surprised, in that, based on what I knew of the movie before watching it, I expected that I would come away with more questions about Arnold and Jesse’s guilt.  I hesitate to attempt to draw any conclusions because, as a lawyer, I have had direct experience in how one person or entities’ (especially a movie or T.V. production) rendition of events can tell a tale far removed from the truth; however, just based on the movie and the bonus material, my take would be that (1) Arnold, and probably Jesse, were probably guilty of something; (2) the gruesome horror story told by the police almost certainly was exaggerated and (3) the Friedmans are one fucked up family.

The bonus material on the second DVD is a great addition because the story continued after the movie was released.  When you see a controversial documentary like this, you often wonder what the people in the documentary thought about it.  Here, you get to find out.  The bonus DVD includes:  (1) the judge speaking out (and be spoken out at) at the Great Neck debut of the movie; (2) confrontations between many of the principles during an open discussion at the NYC debut at the Tribecca Film Festival; (3) additional elements to the story left out because of time constraints; (4) Jesse’s life today free and out of jail – and dating a doctor.  So, if you rent the DVD, definitely check out disc 2, you’ll be glad you did.  You can also check out the website for interesting things too. 

Arnold Friedman, a well respected school teacher, was caught with a large stash of man-boy child pornography.  When the police discovered that he ran computer classes for young boys in his home, they launched an investigation (it appeared the classes were just for boys, but the movie never proffers an explanation).  Going house to house and interviewing, and often re-interviewing suggestively until they got what they wanted, the police built a case of child molestation against Arnold and his 19 year-old son Jesse.  Arnold and Jesse were arrested and charged with hundreds of counts of sodomy and other acts of molestation.

Arnold had many home movies of his family and, just before the crisis started, the oldest son, David Friedman, purchased a home video camera and recorded family discussions, debates and break downs, allowing us to be a fly on the wall of this quite dysfunctional family.  Additionally, the filmmakers interviewed, modern day, the police who investigated the case, the judge, David and Jesse, the mother and wife Edina Friedman, children who recalled being molested, children who swore nothing ever happened and other bit players.  Interestingly, the dominant character in the movie was probably David who, I kid you not, is the #1 Birthday Clown in NYC (though I seriously wonder if he has kept that title after this movie).  David clearly has some serious issues and comes across like someone who believes that if he tells himself, and everyone else, that it isn’t true long enough that it won’t be.

I was surprised, in that, based on what I knew of the movie before watching it, I expected that I would come away with more questions about Arnold and Jesse’s guilt.  I hesitate to attempt to draw any conclusions because, as a lawyer, I have had direct experience in how one person or entities’ (especially a movie or T.V. production) rendition of events can tell a tale far removed from the truth; however, just based on the movie and the bonus material, my take would be that (1) Arnold, and probably Jesse, were probably guilty of something; (2) the gruesome horror story told by the police almost certainly was exaggerated and (3) the Friedmans are one fucked up family.

The bonus material on the second DVD is a great addition because the story continued after the movie was released.  When you see a controversial documentary like this, you often wonder what the people in the documentary thought about it.  Here, you get to find out.  The bonus DVD includes:  (1) the judge speaking out (and be spoken out at) at the Great Neck debut of the movie; (2) confrontations between many of the principles during an open discussion at the NYC debut at the Tribecca Film Festival; (3) additional elements to the story left out because of time constraints; (4) Jesse’s life today free and out of jail – and dating a doctor.  So, if you rent the DVD, definitely check out disc 2, you’ll be glad you did.  You can also check out the website for interesting things too.