Synopsis
Some killers are born. Others are driven to it.
A narrative feature film inspired by the events known as the Beltway sniper attacks.
2013 Directed by Alexandre Moors
A narrative feature film inspired by the events known as the Beltway sniper attacks.
The Washington Snipers, מכונית הקפריס הכחולה, 블루 카프리스, Niebieski Caprice, Chevrolet Azul, Каприз черничного цвета, 蓝色随想
Superbly acted character study that chooses [for better or worse] to focus on the relationship between the menacing father figure and his young quasi-adoptive accomplice, and what led up to them embarking on their spree of terror that rocked the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area in the summer of 2002, rather than the actual killings themselves. Isaiah Washington is captivating on-screen as he broods his way into the psyche of a teenage boy he lifted out of poverty in the Caribbean, convincing him that what they are doing is just. Some solid supporting performances by Tim Blake Nelson and Joey Lauren Adams, as well as newcomer Tequan Richmond. What it lacks in pacing and substance it mostly gains back with inspired acting and its ominous mood & tone, aided in large part by a perfect score from Colin Stetson [who was made for a project like this].
loose fictionalization of the Beltway Sniper attacks is a palpably grim (but all too slippery) look at the weaponization of an American psyche. Isaiah Washington is stellar as the worst father figure of all time, but the film is harrowing without ever being entirely convincing.
A wildly boring and uneventful serial killer movie. I usually enjoy slow paced character studies on film, but this was beyond tedious to get through. I will admit that the performances are very believable, and the story itself stays pretty accurate. However, the low energy and lifelessness of the picture(although in turn giving off a very sinister and bleak vibe that helps the overall subject matter)makes me want to watch a documentary about these two instead of this highly disturbing, yet hallow narrative feature.
- The Spork Guy
I remember how terrifying it was when the seemingly random and baffling murders of everyday people occurred during October 2002 in the region of the United States made up of Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C., known as the beltway, their deaths coming at quiet moments of normalcy at the hands of someone with a sniper rifle. As I reside in Illinois, I wasn't near the chaos and fear that stopped people from doing simple things like going shopping or pumping gas, but it still had an effect on me mentally, taking a moment each day to consider how fragile life really was. The film Blue Caprice tells the story of those that took those innocent lives, a man named John…
A fascinating and terrifying character study of two killers, Isaiah Washington in the perfect role for his intense brand of performance and youngster Tequan Richmond brooding his way through his first real movie gig, of the grooming of one by the other and the driving on of each other as their incomprehensibly despicable plan comes to fruition.
Director Alexandre Moors takes a slow, thoughtful approach to his material, somewhat akin to Van Sant's Elephant but with much more substance, to what could easily be a sensationalist piece of cinema in the wrong hands. Artful visuals and a sound design that uses silence and white noise in addition to the score, accentuate the claustrophobic mood of the piece and impress upon the viewer the nature of the evil that grows between the two men.
One of the best films of the year.
Amongst the ashes of September 11th, 2001 there was another menace bubbling under the surface, this time of a domestic kind. 13 months after the Twin Tower tragedies, a gunman - believed to be working alone at the time - patrolled the nation's capital picking off civilians with a sniper. Within the first week of the attacks, 7 people had been mudered. By the end of the 3 week reign of fear created by the shootings, 10 people had been killed, rising to 13 with others accounted for beforehand.
Remembered as the Beltway Sniper Attacks, this was big news both the in US and across the Atlantic in the UK. The public struggled to comprehend the motivation behind such random…
It was a 'pick something off my netflix list' night last night, and wow did I make a damn good choice.
The first act of the low-budget Blue Caprice is not nearly as intense as the film's opening credits (or the event the film is based on) would suggest, and while at first I had a hard time adjusting my expectations, as I kept watching I realized just how fascinating and intimate of a look into these characters this compelling drama is.
Don't you ever notice how in almost every film, the main characters are always so busy moving the plot along that you wonder if they're actual people that have lives outside of the main plot of the film?…
It took two viewings to truly appreciate, but Blue Caprice is a stoic, sometimes silent look into the mind of an increasingly desperate mad man. Based on the events surrounding the Beltway Sniper killings a little over a decade ago, we watch as ex-military John Muhammad descends into an inescapable hole of paranoia and madness. With him is a teenage accomplice, the (not legally) adopted orphan John Malvo, who through ritualistic military training and indoctrination becomes as bitter and violent as his adopted father.
The two travel across the country to several locations through Muhammad's friendships and former military associations, with each stop throwing the duo further into the darkness, until Muhammad eventually begins to inspire Malvo to commit murder…
In re-creating the horrifying events of the Beltway sniper attacks from 2002, first time filmmaker Alexandre Moors chooses to probe deep into the psyches of the murderers involved, and the end result is a surprisingly wise and meditative debut that should cause many to keep a close eye on his work to come.
Working with a debut screenplay from R.F.I. Porto, Moors also finds two actors who fully embody these characters with an slow-burn internal fuse, and their complete collaboration across the board keeps the audience on their toes. If you're looking for a Hollywood-style film based on these events, go somewhere else. There is no major blood and gore-filled climax giving us gratuitous violence. Moors is simply never concerned…
Slow moving grim tale of a thick coward (played/mumbled by real life moron Isaiah Washington) grooming a vulnerable idiot to shoot people under the guise of some pathetically dense 'us vs them' mantra.
I had an issue with the film seemingly asking for sympathy for the devils' descent into darkness despite portraying them largely as the kind of criminals who think they're a lot smarter than they are - the pair of them deserved nothing but scorn and derision for what they did and the lives they took. The world's a better place for one of them not wasting space in it anymore.
Blue Caprice is one of the most assured directorial debuts to come along in a while. It is a dramatization of the events leading up to and including the Beltway sniper attacks in 2002 that took place in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C., in which a man and a teenage boy drove around in a blue Chevrolet Caprice and shot at people randomly, through a hole in the trunk.
Alexandre Moors' film is conventionally structured, opening with aerial views of the devastation caused by the snipers while news broadcasts play on the soundtrack, and then going back in time to establish the relationship of the two individuals and the events that led them to their shocking murder spree. But the…