Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I really like the movie based on it being very true to the people involved! Very real! On that note, it is seriously f-ed up! I am interested in crime and crime history but this takes it to a new level! Crime seriously affected this guy and I really want to know what made his wife who she is! They are a perfect match but that scares me! This movie makes me wonder about EVERY person involved! The cops even more than the writer and his perfect match of a wife! The dinner table discussions make me blush and uncomfortable and I use the c and p words freely and without restraint. That being said, any movie that has this effect on me is intense! Be aware that it is VERY intense!

A documentary about James Ellroy and his fascination with unsolved murder cases, especially those of his mother, and the similar, infamous, Black Dahlia murder.I did not James Ellroy outside of his writing before watching this, and now I think the man comes off as a jerk and very full of himself. I suppose he would have some right to be arrogant, as he is very successful and highly intelligent. But it did not make me want to meet him or give him one cent for his future works.An exploration of the Black Dahlia murder in this film is mostly just some guys sitting around a table BSing. The same goes for Ellroy's mother (which is not that similar of a crime, really). For me, the highlight was the segment filmed in Wisconsin. I have been to Tomah, so it was not a foreign land being shown and the people certainly looked like Wisconsinites.

If you are expecting a documentary that takes you in and out of a grisly underworld of murder in America...false alarm. More or less this is a self instigated "pat-on-the-back" of American crime novelist James Elroy. Author of such top sellers like "L.A. Confidential", "The Black Dahlia", "Hollywood Nocturnes" and "The Cold Six Thousand", Elroy talks about the unsolved murder of his mother and how it has similarities to the infamous 1947 Black Dahlia murder case in Los Angeles. His language is full of expletives, almost to the point of overkill; as he sits in an L.A. restaurant with some of his friends from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and detectives from the LAPD. Featured are visits to former murder scenes; crime scene photos and drive by glimpses of Elroy's childhood homes. The group bandy about thoughts of the very nature of murder, its investigation and how it effects the victim's loved ones. But the conversation is mainly focused on the Black Dahlia murder. Featured among Elroy's friends: Larry Harnisch, Frank Merriman, Bill Stoner, Ray Peavy, Rick Jackson, and Eric Mosher. Actor Nick Nolte drops by; but his presence seems just social. Elroy has a large following and this documentary may just give a glimpse why. Be prepared for some very disturbing photos.

I've been drawn to this movie in a morbid sort of way. It is disturbing on many levels. Straight out we know that James Ellroy's mother was brutally strangled and the murder will be revisited and this has fashioned him as an authored. He is by the way the author of L.A. Confidential, which was made into a movie. The movie goes deeper than simply examining his mother's murder. It also examines the famous Black Dahlia murder involving Mary Short, which also played a role in Ellroy's becoming a murder mystery writer. Not wanting to be a spoiler here, the movie is more graphic than many horror films in the murders examined and Ellroy's prose is tossed in from time to time, describing why humans kill, makes for a chilling, yet informative kind of viewing. This film is not for squeamish folks. I would not let my children watch it. Some of the stuff was that disturbing. But, like I said, for some reason, like a moth to a flame, I've been drawn to this film over and over again.