Brother's Keeper

This story really hit home with me because my small town had to rally around me once during a court appearance that featured less murder but just as many old men and maybe twice as much horrifying sexual chemistry. Man, this derailed before I knew what I was writing. Even I'm uncomfortable with this one.

Backstory, backstory, backstory, trial, SLAUGHTERING A PIG, trial, trial.

A quaint film about how awesome beards are and why you should brush your teeth.

Minimalist tactics always make for a transparent experience. Not answering questions but asking them. Bias is unavoidable in any journalistic approach and this is no different, so don't feel bad for shifting the goalposts a bit as needed. Unauthorized euthanasia misconstrued as malicious fratricide, rural solidarity, family values, illiterate rednecks and forced confessions.

A window into the mind of someone I cannot imagine ever understanding. And if there is no hope of ever fully understanding it, then who am I to judge it? Who are any of us to judge it? (Other than Judge Judy. She can judge ANYTHING.)

I'm pretty sure that Criticker has the wrong poster for this movie. But the fact that I'm not certain speaks to the complete lack of hygienic practice from all involved in this story.

Surprisingly dull

Great story, but just an okay documentary.

Complicated and heart-wrenching. Delbert's place in the town's (slightly suspect) support against the state's (very suspect) charge is like a child in a custody battle.

Not the best documentary ever, but a damned interesting group of brothers.

A great documentary highlighting a niche corner of society, contrasting urban and rural mentalities, follies of the justice system, and media swarms. Pitiable and nerve-wracking.

Very powerful.

Fell asleep halfway through & didn't have much interest in seeing how it ended

With commendable transparency and surprising intimacy, Brother's Keeper dialectically explores the ambiguity between a rural stereotype ("simple", uneducated, unsophisticated) and the reality of the Ward brothers. How does this image color others' interpretations, whether sympathetic or not, of the events concerning Bill Ward's death? How is the image exploited by the prosecution and defense in Delbert's trial? And how do these interpretations puncture the previously hermetic lives of the Wards?

It was okay as a crime documentary. The true star was the interesting brothers but I don't think the filmmakers pressed as hard as they could have. The police were bad but a better documentary would have investigated the question of: if everyone in a small town is on your side, could you get away with murder? Fav scene: defense attorney gave great opening and closing arguments.