I wasn’t positive what direction this documentary would take, but it actually balanced, in a strangely unbalanced way. The specific problem is harder to pin down, and it’s mostly that the movie groups into themes, and this unbalances the movie. It starts off seeming a little more like an effort to take a comedic view of these people. By the end, it circles back around to being more inspirational.
I expected some coverage of Phoenix Jones, who has been one of the higher profile heroes out there.
Instead, I find myself identifying with these people. I’m not sure exactly how, but they do reflect the same thing that comic heroes do for me. Their intentions are great. Some of them have figured out effective ways of contributing. Some of them are mostly just a presence, since it can be very difficult to find the appropriate crime to stop.
One of the groups comes across as being very well-managed. The New York Initiative has a group of four people - sharing an apartment - but they actually work at staying in shape. They get the gear they should have. They plan their actions. We don’t see them actually handle any violent crime, but we see them manage a drunk driver and a homeless guy who gets his foot run over.
The other one who has found a niche that seems to work is a guy who works with a camera operator. They get footage of drug deals going on in a park at night. The guy confronts the dealer, tells them to leave, and warns them that they have footage of the deal. It doesn’t go through perfectly every time, but it still seems more effective than some of these other heroes.
Some of the heroes seem like they aren’t quite all there, but they never seem dangerous or stupid. One of them seems a bit delusional, but there are implications that being a hero is one of the things that keeps him productive.
No comments:
Post a Comment