Good concept, poorly executed.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I'm still not entirely sure whom to believe. This is a testament as to how good this documentary is on denial, family, lies, love, and horror. I would certainly recommend it to whomever wishes to feel real badly about human nature and the evil ways that it manifests itself. Belief in WHATEVER is so powerful and it never ceases to amaze me how we are able to convince ourselves of ANYTHING. I say this only because this family is in absolute denial and they have genuinely convinced themselves that there father is innocent of all charges. With so much damning evidence, it is hard to believe that anyone, with any sense, would not prematurely convict this man of the horrors he committed.

Even though I have yet to finish watching the whole film I will write a few thoughts on where I am currently.I have tried to convince myself that this is a regular suburban family but based on the evidence and testimony that I have seen so far, I cant help but be led to believe that this may in fact be the most delinquent family I have ever seen. How can Arnies(I believe that is the main characters name) wife, after everything that was uncovered about her husband stick around after Arnie admitted to molesting children? And how can these people admit guilt in court and still try to maintain their innocence? I really cannot wrap my head around this family. The more I see the more disgusted I get. If this was not a class assignment to watch the film I would never have considered to watch it. Perhaps once I finish the movie I will have a different opinion but for right now I am dreading having to watch the rest of it.

Entertaining story, and even good film making. However, Andrew Jarecki should be ashamed of the biased point of view he MANIPULATED in this film. Is this a case of one Jewish person (Jarecki) defending a Jewish family (Friedmans)? As a new yorker myself who is not Jewish, I understand how Jewish folks stick together...But this is crossing the line and is an absolute disgrace! Jarecki left out ABSOLUTELY INCRIMINATING evidence, footage, and persons involved in this. Jesse and Arnold are without a shadow of a doubt GUILTY, and this film makes an unethical attempt to raise that doubt and draw sympathy for these predators and monsters.How dare you defend these two individuals!!! Jarecki is a FRAUD for this. There was a 3rd predator who was to testify against Jesse & Arnold about the abuse, there was an overwhelming amount of child pornography that was found (NOT A STACK OF MAGAZINES THAT JARECKI DOWNPLAYED THIS INTO). Jarecki talked to 3-5 victims out of 17 (admitted by Jesse Friedman). Jarecki left out Jesse Friedmans total admission to everything in an interview from jail with Geraldo Rivera as well. You can check it out for yourself, but don't for a minute let Jarecki fool you that these monsters are anything but sick, sick individuals who destroyed dozens of lives. Here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYWOZgMbHQ&feature=related

If Arnold didn't do anything, where was the rage? Why wasn't he pounding his fists on every table he could find, furiously proclaiming his innocence? Instead he'd just sit there like a lump, seemingly dissociated from his surroundings, as his sons jumped through hoops to defend him.It was painful seeing beautiful-eyed David going about his business as a clown in the face of the anguish his family was experiencing. Later some Internet research revealed that he can be a sardonic clown indeed (and he's the most successful and probably priciest birthday-party clown in New York City). The younger males in this family were always clowning and roughhousing around, probably as an unconscious defense against the leaden depression in the home, with its closeted-homosexual, pedophile father and lied-to mom who was rejected from the boys' club and stuck in a joyless marriage.So much about Arnold seemed encapsulated in the interview given by Jesse's lawyer, who revealed that Arnold admitted to having been aroused by a young boy in the jail=house interview room. Absolutely stunning material.I almost jumped out of my seat (with joy) during the epilogue when I learned about the mother's life following Jesse's imprisonment. And yet the mother-son hug at their reunion was entirely believable.This documentary leaves many striking characters in mind. How intriguing that the uncle's homosexuality was left until practically the penultimate frame. And I was left wondering about his relationship, if any, with his nephews. Was the lack of any apparent interaction a function only of his living on the West Coast? And his handling of Arnold's talk of having "messed around" seemed part of the understatement that defined his older brother. Very odd, indeed.The death of he and Arnold's sister, at only 8, by lead poisoning, was an extremely troubling and unexpected point that should definitely have been explained further. Those ghostly film clips of her ballet will haunt me...But caveats like these detract only scarcely from a fully compelling film.