jcarolfi What fascinates me most about the film is the way the way the filmmaker deftly appears to weave together officials, experts, family members and home movies and video to attempt to give a sense of truth of happened when the Father, Arnold Friedman, was arrested on various sex with minors charges. On first viewing it seemed so full of ballyhoo - what officials were saying was so different that what the family was saying (even the mother, Elaine) - That it seemed little more than a highly concocted docudrama. In fact, I dare any docudrama maker to create a story this engaging. Upon a more careful viewing it became apparent that the truth was likely not embodied in any one person's statement or perspective (Arnold died in prison before work on the film began). Perhaps the truth in some cases cannot be known and perhaps it is a mental construct of sorts. The film "captures" oh so well the dysfunction that existed within it and a power of denial strong enough to actually change reality.A landmark film.

roymosl3 This is a good documentary that captures the mind state of a pedophile and the the stress that is put on the pedophiles family. The documentary provides viewers with an inside look by showing, actual, home videos of a family that is put through a stressful trial and we are able to see tempers flare. And we get to see this family unravel on home video footage. By watching the home videos people are able to dissect the characters and the family seems to show their true feelings on camera, because I do not think they knew that there would be a documentary about their life. The father is the one that is accused of being a pedophile and his sons are dragged through the mud with him and the mother has to make the best decisions for her self and family. There are a lot of witnesses and there is so many different stories of what happens and different stories of who the father really is, but this documentary keeps you watching because you know someone is lying. The subject is a hard one to bare, but the documentary sheds the light on the psychology of a society on a touchy subject such as this.

ddot91 Entertaining story, and even good film making. However, Andrew Jarecki should be ashamed of the biased point of view he MANIPULATED in this film. Is this a case of one Jewish person (Jarecki) defending a Jewish family (Friedmans)? As a new yorker myself who is not Jewish, I understand how Jewish folks stick together...But this is crossing the line and is an absolute disgrace! Jarecki left out ABSOLUTELY INCRIMINATING evidence, footage, and persons involved in this. Jesse and Arnold are without a shadow of a doubt GUILTY, and this film makes an unethical attempt to raise that doubt and draw sympathy for these predators and monsters.How dare you defend these two individuals!!! Jarecki is a FRAUD for this. There was a 3rd predator who was to testify against Jesse & Arnold about the abuse, there was an overwhelming amount of child pornography that was found (NOT A STACK OF MAGAZINES THAT JARECKI DOWNPLAYED THIS INTO). Jarecki talked to 3-5 victims out of 17 (admitted by Jesse Friedman). Jarecki left out Jesse Friedmans total admission to everything in an interview from jail with Geraldo Rivera as well. You can check it out for yourself, but don't for a minute let Jarecki fool you that these monsters are anything but sick, sick individuals who destroyed dozens of lives. Here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYWOZgMbHQ&feature=related

evening1 If Arnold didn't do anything, where was the rage? Why wasn't he pounding his fists on every table he could find, furiously proclaiming his innocence? Instead he'd just sit there like a lump, seemingly dissociated from his surroundings, as his sons jumped through hoops to defend him.It was painful seeing beautiful-eyed David going about his business as a clown in the face of the anguish his family was experiencing. Later some Internet research revealed that he can be a sardonic clown indeed (and he's the most successful and probably priciest birthday-party clown in New York City). The younger males in this family were always clowning and roughhousing around, probably as an unconscious defense against the leaden depression in the home, with its closeted-homosexual, pedophile father and lied-to mom who was rejected from the boys' club and stuck in a joyless marriage.So much about Arnold seemed encapsulated in the interview given by Jesse's lawyer, who revealed that Arnold admitted to having been aroused by a young boy in the jail=house interview room. Absolutely stunning material.I almost jumped out of my seat (with joy) during the epilogue when I learned about the mother's life following Jesse's imprisonment. And yet the mother-son hug at their reunion was entirely believable.This documentary leaves many striking characters in mind. How intriguing that the uncle's homosexuality was left until practically the penultimate frame. And I was left wondering about his relationship, if any, with his nephews. Was the lack of any apparent interaction a function only of his living on the West Coast? And his handling of Arnold's talk of having "messed around" seemed part of the understatement that defined his older brother. Very odd, indeed.The death of he and Arnold's sister, at only 8, by lead poisoning, was an extremely troubling and unexpected point that should definitely have been explained further. Those ghostly film clips of her ballet will haunt me...But caveats like these detract only scarcely from a fully compelling film.