what is the plot - in one sentence? A recreation of a true tale where a small Connecticut town's police, media and political might work to find, then convict the killer of a beloved Priest who was shot in broad daylight.
I don't have time, just spoil it for me? To avoid looking incompetent, the media, police and political class work hard to convict someone on circumstantial evidence, but a State attorney works hard to prove that the rule of law works. At the movies end, a little fellow we're strongly lead to believe did the killing is shown to be killed in a car crash, which goes unremarked upon by all but one press-man. Also, one of the politicians is trying to make the conviction stick so that he can push through a corrupt land deal, which the attorney's wife is indirectly involved in, but he still does the 'right thing' and refused to convict. We're told that this is based on a real event, and the honest Attorney is now the DA of the USA., or something.
What is the meaning of the Title? I have no idea. Boomerang isn't mentioned, so the best that I can think of is that the town leaders used the 'weapon' of justice to look good and save face, but the honor of the truth meant that it came back to hit them, as a boomerang kind of does. That's a hell of a reach, but I can't think of any other meaning.
This is obviously where they got the inspiration for that scene in the Usual Suspects. Though have you tried watching that recently? It's not aged well.
Anything that's not
aged well? Does a woman get slapped around? I don't know about aged
well, but it's very of its time. There are several scenes where people
have a drink in the morning; the DA guy makes an old-fashioned the
moment he gets home, it looks lovely.
Any thoughts? Aside from the lack of tracking technology that would make this case much easier today, this is pretty apt and on the nose tale. It's about the importance of seeming competent vs being right, which is presumably always going to be politically relevant, as is the underlying theme on the unreliability of memory.
There were a couple of funny scenes, including where a psychologist is dismissed as not being a real scientist or a doctor, which presumably reflects the views of the time. The man they get to confess is kept up all night and forced to sign a confession, but he's also shown to have PTSD and a huge sense of insecurity over his actions in the war, effectively, he's having a midlife crisis, and he's about 25.
Would you recommend this? Sure, if some bozo hadn't spoiled it for you on this page; it was a well acted and interesting crime drama, and who doesn't love that?
Final thoughts? The man we're led to think is the one who shot the priest, is shown at the beginning talking to him and being scolded for his devious, inhumane actions. I guess we're meant to think he's gay, or maybe a communist?
This movie also has one of the most obvious central mission questions ever stated on camera, where the question 'Is one man's life worth more than the community?' is asked to the camera. It's the entire premise of the movie in a single question. Anyway, this was good, even if I have no idea why it's called boomerang.
Want to see more of this list? Go here, gorgeous.
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