Blu-ray Review: Chicago-Based ‘The Interrupters’ is Best Documentary of 2011

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CHICAGO – On Sunday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will name what they consider to be the Best Documentary of 2011. They will be wrong. How do I know? Because it’s not even nominated. The actual best documentary of last year (which was a VERY good year from the form with everything from “Into the Abyss” to “Tabloid” to “Pearl Jam Twenty” to “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”) was not nominated. That title goes to Steve James’ “The Interrupters,” which was recently released on Blu-ray and DVD and is simply a must-see.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

The people profiled in “The Interrupters” are true heroes. They have been through a darkness that most of you reading this can’t even imagine and they didn’t come through it shell-shocked or afraid; they came through it wanting to make a difference in the world. Where most people see a lost cause or something that demands a forceful response, these heroes realize that minds must be changed in order to impact realities. And they know the only way to change those minds is with persuasive discussion that creates action. Don’t just stop the violence; convince the people being violent that they shouldn’t be. It’s the only long-term solution.

James follows three amazing people — Ameena Matthews, Eddie Bocanegra, and Cobe Williams — as they enter the south side of our favorite city and attempt to stop violence through dialogue and confrontation with people who might commit it. If someone in a gang is killed, the Interrupters step in before the retaliation. One of the most memorable moments of 2011 came in the form of a young woman on a street corner preaching about how it is the neighborhood’s job — not the police, not the church, not the schools, but EVERYONE — to ensure that more kids don’t end up on either side of a gun. It is the way we make impressions the youth around us that will change the future. And the people attempting to make that change ask nothing in return, often seeming as if they aren’t even doing enough to warrant a documentary.

Steve James is a masterful filmmaker. He doesn’t put these people on a pedestal. He just chronicles their actions and leaves that up to the audience. Personally, the fact that the Interrupters live in the city I call home makes me more proud to be a Chicagoan than before I saw this riveting film. Don’t miss their story.

One more thing — The Academy may not have honored them appropriately but the Chicago Film Critics Association saw fit to name “The Interrupters” the Best Documentary of 2011.

The Interrupters was released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 14, 2012
Photo credit: PBS

Synopsis:
The Interrupters tells the moving and often surprising stories of three “Violence Interrupters” - Ameena Matthews, Eddie Bocanegra, and Cobe Williams - who with bravado, humility, and even humor, work to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed.

From acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here), this award-winning film is an unusually intimate journey into the stubborn persistence of violence in our cities. Shot over the course of a year out of Kartemquin Films, the film follows Ameena, Eddie, and Cobe as they attempt to intervene in disputes before they turn violent, including two brothers threatening to shoot each other, an angry teenage girl just home from prison, and a young man on a warpath of revenge. The film captures The Interrupters’ work and reveals their own inspired journeys from crime to hope and ultimately redemption.

Special Features:
o 56 Minutes of Deleted Scenes
o Theatrical Trailer

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com