Watched: Dear Zachary

I don't have any pictures for this one because I was too busy CRYING the entire time. I am not the weepy sort. The last time I seriously cried in the theater (besides a litle sniffling at Where the Wild Things Are) was Life is Beautiful, which my mother made my whole family see together without warning us about the ending. I'm pretty sure I, being TEN YEARS OLD, yelled, "No!" at the screen. I was very impressionable.

I'm made of stronger stuff now! Kind of. But this documentary... completely undid me. It's a story that is both so completely grounded in reality yet so deftly manipulative that even while you know what the filmmaker is doing, you can't help but continue watching. I'm sort of crap about plot synopsis so here's what some random IMDB nerd has to say:

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking
up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of
Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.
Friends, relatives, and colleagues say warm and loving things about Andrew, home
movies confirm his exuberance. Andrew's parents, Kathleen and David, move to
Labrador where the ex-girlfriend has gone. They await an arrest and trial of the
murderer. They negotiate with the ex-girlfriend to visit their grandchild,
Zachary, and they seek custody. Is there any justice; is Zachery a sweet and
innocent consolation for the loss of their son?

What that summary fails to tell you (MAJOR SPOILAGE AHEAD, if you don't already know, since this case was in the news) is that his girlfriend Shirley Turner, after skirting justice through lame Canadian beauracracy and a ridiculously over-sympathetic judge, kills both herself and Andrew's son, Zachary. Yeah. Like I said this case was in the news, but I got so into the first half, which is about what a really great guy Andrew was and how this baby gave Andrew's parents something to live and fight for after the senseless, violent murder of their son that by the time that bombshell was dropped I was helpless.

So, worth watching? Absolutely. The film is excellently edited with really great testimonial from the wide variety of people touched by Andrew's life. Despite Kuenne's obvious love of his friend and hatred for Turner (which seems completely justified, although this woman was obviously capital-C-Crazypants and so to me the real blame should fall on the legal/medical community), it still gives what seems as complete a picture as is possible of the events that transpired. But let anyone considering it know that this film is devastating. Just emotionally brutal. That's not a bad thing per se, but anyone considering it should prepare like one does for a Dementor visit: chocolate, blankets, and a fluffy rom-com to cleanse the emotional palette.