dennisbuhlp This didnt make sense at any point! Whats the purpose?? Nothing new brought to the table, just gossip and exploration of the pour girls tragic death. They got their 15 mins each...

Katoo I saw this production last night. Although being European, the case of Jonbenet has been in our media substantially as well, from the moment it happened until this day. This is not a documentary and I don't review it as such. I find the concept of "Casting Jonbenet" very innovating and intriguing. I had to forego on all of my prejudices about what to expect of a documentary and what to expect of a movie, because it is neither.In the beginning, I was surprised about the approach and I found the presentation of the different versions of Patsy confusing. Then, I got the point and when gradually the other characters and actors were introduced, I felt more comfortable with the concept and really got into it. If you fight this concept, you won't be able to appreciate this production, so in my opinion you should watch it with an open mind.It was very confronting when I started to realize that all of these actors had a story of their own. Sometimes they had a connection with the Ramsey's through friends or work, sometimes they had their own traumatic experience that synchronized them with the character they were supposed to play or the crime itself. Somehow, for me, these private testimonies brought the whole case alive and present again.You should get past the uncomfortable feeling some of the amateur actors give you, like the SM-fetishist, the Santa Clauses (what was that??), or the guy that played the creepy pedophile. Sometimes it was funny how these people went into method acting-modus, how serious they took the job. Although I must admit, with some of them I wasn't sure if they were really ordinary people or if they were acting to be an amateur actor...The last 5-10 minutes of this production is a perfect ending to it: a long slow-motion shot of all of the actors, in one big scene, with all of the possible scenario's of that fatal night, all in one.The last we get to see is a vision of the perfect little girl Jonbenet was, in the spotlight, all dressed up. I think that was an appropriate tribute to the poor girl who must have suffered a great deal during her short lifetime as well as in the final hours leading up to her death.

timothyongb A brief look at the IMDb reviews put up there and one will be able to find a lot of hate for this movie. They say: there are no new insights to the case, basically a bunch of random strangers gossiping about and dramatizing the death of a child. This film is all of that, and because of that, it is great. I came into the film not knowing a single thing about the case. (I've yet to reach twenty and I do not live in the west) And it is through this film, through these gossips by these strangers that I have managed to piece together a vague sense of what the case is all about. But this understanding of mine that I received on what happened to the child is a dramatized and subjective rendition of the proceedings.The people interviewed are your regular Tom and Jane on the street. The answers they share are less of an expert's and more of the opinion being spread out on the streets, what the people believe. The subjects feel very assured of what they believe, which theory they believe. Their answers to the questions are filled with the passion of a group of people sharing their ideas on the case. They draw from their personal experiences and from their subjective ideas. Many of the interviewees personalize the case too much and as such it is definitely not something to be taken as the truth.Though this leads to some extremely fascinating scenes where the interviewees appear to be relating and perhaps even sympathizing with the proposed perpetrator in their theories of the case. Further more the fact that these interviewees are actually auditioning to be acting as the people they talk about serves to further blur the identities between the 'perpetrator' and the regular human being. Perhaps we all have the potential commit an act or play a part in something so horrifying. After all, we are all human. We make mistakes. In this respect, the film reminds me of the great documentary 'The Act of Killing' where the lines between the identity of fiction and reality, history are blurred. Of course 'Casting JonBenet' does not solely focus on the blurring of identity and the aspects of human nature, but there are moments where the tragic loss of the child can be felt from through the subjects, how they felt about it, how they can relate to the death. A little superficial perhaps, but it does not feel sentimental as many conventional documentaries would have done if they were in the shoes of such a topic. It feels earnest and real. This movie is not the typical documentary typically known to the mainstream, it's goal is less focused on delivering information to the public in an entertaining manner but rather, just as some of the best documentaries do, it focuses on exploring the human condition. This film is less about the case of Jonbenet but more about the normal person's interpretation, reaction and their personal bits of introspection regarding the tragic incident. The film certainly is not without faults, there are plenty. But my main complaint would be that the reaches not much of a conclusion and the montage near the end emphasizes a little too much on the film's concept and ends up feeling more manufactured than earnest and emotional.

contactpmy Someone actually thought it would be a good idea to not only audition really bad actors for the roles of prominent figures in this case, but also let these people weigh in on the case, based on their limited knowledge. Most of the documentary (I can't believe I just used that word for this junk)is of these terrible actor wannabes chewing the scenery in what they probably thought were great auditions. They all came off looking like fools. This is especially true of the Patsy Ramsey hopeful who went on and on about her wardrobe choice and the freak who used his time to show off his S&M fetish. So inappropriate but then again, there was nothing appropriate about this. I hope some day someone can actually do a good documentary about this poor little girl. She deserves to be remembered in a much better light than this film was willing to shine on her. Don't waste your time on this.