Too much of everything

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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

The cat is out of the bag. We finally meet the woman behind the creation of literary genius JT Leroy. This movie delves into the truth of Laura Albert, and it is surprising. She didn't intend to hurt people, but her creation, JT Leroy went from nom de plume to real life boy. And now we hear from Laura herself, apologetic yet unabashed. She reveals the behind the scenes of the New York Bestselling author that swept through the publishing world and became a well known, all while Laura watched from the sidelines watching the praise and acknowledgement get showered on her creation. But it all came crashing down and here we have the aftermath. This movie is fascinating and candid. The emotions are real. This is an important documentary that touches on things like identity, acceptance, betrayal, and finally the unmasking of the true genius behind the books, and the creation of JT Leroy.

This Albert person is so chronically and sickeningly manipulative. She calls writers and panders to their egos, feeding their need for adoration. They, in turn, help Albert get publishers and agents. Smart. Very smart.Albert feeds HER need for attention and adoration by courting celebs and rock stars. Overweight, she could not have come forward as herself - she doesn't feel capable of doing so. But she is VERY capable of controlling the other players. I can't imagine how she accomplished this for so long. Albert even brought HER SON into this game...can you imagine how messed up THAT kid is going to be???I have seen this film, and am sure Albert feels gratified that she has told her story well. Frankly, she just sounds mentally ill. This is a severely deranged and dangerous individual.

I saw this in my 2nd Yr as a Volunteer at the True/False Film Festival. Sometimes we get lucky to watch movies either thru the Q or as an usher, watching from the wings or empty seats. I knew J.T. Leroy as an author - I read "his" books working as a bookseller in both university and retail. I hadn't heard the name in several years & was lucky to see this doc at the 2016 Festival. I was shocked and amazed - and happy to learn "the fluid truth" this writer. I didn't feel tricked or lied to at all. In fact, for me, the extreme abuse she endured and her choice to create a story in-real-life as a boy makes sense. I see it as the ultimate form of a "pen name," doing so not only to tell a story but also as potentially therapeutic. The documentary shows the aftermath when readers learn her true identity & the over-reaction by readers and publishers. It documents the legal nightmare and (over?) reaction of readers to a quasi-fiction writer when the story should count more than the identity of the author. I agree with those upset that there was a physical lie - she passed someone else off as her in public. Not a great idea, but kids do stupid things. And the stories help those who are subjected to physical, psychological and other forms of abuse as kids/adults because of who we are. For me, the ends justified the deception - the documentary shows that most people in her world don't agree.

I wrote a full review here: http://indieethos.com/2016/09/21/jt-leroy- story/The latest documentary by director Jeff Feuerzeig, The JT Leroy Story, explores the making of the character of JT Leroy, an author who rose to fame in the early 2000s as a literary sensation by writing about his life, which included sexual abuse, homelessness and coping with HIV. A publisher recalls the work as a novelty, a new voice. However, the story of JT Leroy was a fantasy, a made-up story concocted by Laura Albert, a 40-year-old San Francisco woman originally from New York. She started using characters since early on in her life as she felt uncomfortable in her own skin. She used these personas partly to escape her life, which was full of trauma and abuse but also, seemingly, to get attention. She even attended therapy sessions as her character, melding fantasy and her life into different personas.