Such a frustrating disappointment

Load of rubbish!!

Did you people see the same film I saw?

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is incredible to me that someone would even THINK about doing a mock documentary on a SERIOUS subject with an intent to arouse our emotions. Drama requires talent in crafting dialogue, scenery and mood to convey a message: Be it clarity or ambiguity. Documentary requires skills in packaging other's points of view: Be it to underscore the maker's message or that of the speakers. What the makers of TLP have done is to avoid the work needed in drama and documentary by canning blunt messages and delivering them without the need of acting, directing, camera work, etc. The result is cheap and insincere. I wouldn't mind learning about this tragic incident from a real documentary where even if the producers' point of view was biased I could hear the actual words and see the expressions of the interviewees. Conversely, I could handle a fictional account where I might adopt and/or appreciate another's perception of the events and emotions involved.But to impose a mandated message by pulling our outrage, pity, anger and tragedy stings like TLP is shameful.

There's nothing new in this movie. Nothing you haven't thought about before, nothing you haven't heard before. The story of a gay man who is brutally murdered in a small town and the reaction of people can be broached in many ways, and this movie has chosen the most demagogic and slushy one. One of the biggest flaws in this movie is that it isn't neither a movie nor a documentary. The director has used the transcriptions of the original interviews and made the actors play them as if it was a movie. The result is weird. And finally, I read in previous comments that stated that people who don't like this movie are anti-gay. I'm pretty sure this comments come from people who consider themselves tolerant but don't tolerate that other people don't like this movie. This is a funny world.

I thought this movie was great. I give it 10 out of 10 stars. I loved everything about it, actors, acting, script, transcripts, production, photography and directing. The only people I hate are the ones who made nasty comments about Matthew, and talked a bunch of bullshit about him saying that he deserved it and was asking for it. That is all totally wrong. I especially hate that Fred Phelps, and his little group of people. I also hate most of all the two perpetrators, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. None of the negative talk about Matthew, was true at all. I think that both the perpetrators should have been given the death penalty. They may have life in prison without the possibility of parole, but that still was not enough at all. Remember the Golden Rule: "Do Unto Others As You'ed Have Done To You. Kudos to the cast, crew, and filmmakers! Two Thumbs Way Up!

Upon its beginning, one realizes almost instantly that this film was adapted from a play, if only from listening to the characters' lines. The dialogue is absolute perfection, the Nirvana of the writer, in its synthesis of ultra-realistic speech patterns and riveting material. Even the most mundane discussion is difficult to turn off. This is, of course, the hallmark of theater, where there is no orchestral score or fantastic cinematography to distract the audience - dialogue must stand on its own. It's a practice all too absent from most film.The "poetic realism" style continues through into visuals, as every shot is calculatingly composed for maximum emotional effect without straying from the documentary setup. In one particularly memorable moment, an innocuous American flag in a bar becomes a wrenchingly powerful symbol. Considering that the original play was done with no set beyond a table and chairs, it's a radical departure - and one that goes surprisingly well.Though the film begins to drag through its second half, and hits a low point with an apparently poignant but in fact quite artificial and dry monologue from Shepard's father, the impact of its unconventional style is enough to propel it through to a more or less satisfying conclusion. Recommended for anyone who can tolerate serious film.