Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart

Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart is a 2014 American documentary film directed by Jeremiah Zagar.[1] The film premiered in competition in the category of U.S. Documentary Competition program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014.[2]

This article is about the 2014 documentary. For a definition of the term "captivated", see the Wiktionary entry captivated.
Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart
Film poster
Directed byJeremiah Zagar
Produced byLori Cheatle
Gabriel Sedgwick
CinematographyNaiti Gámez
Edited byKeiko Deguchi
Music byZoë Keating
Production
companies
Hard Working Movies
Passion Pictures
Distributed byHBO
Release date
  • January 17, 2014 (2014-01-17) (Sundance)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film premiered on August 18, 2014 on HBO.[3]

Plot

The film tells the story of the 1990 murder of Gregg Smart and the subsequent New Hampshire trial and conviction, with gavel to gavel media coverage, of murderer Pamela Smart.[4]

Reception

The film received mostly positive response from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes it has 63% rating based on 8 reviews, on an average rating of 7.2/10.[5] Dennis Harvey, in his review for Variety, said that "This is all intriguing, and will especially fascinate those who weren’t around and overexposed to the case 20-odd years ago. But Zagar’s thesis — that overpowering media exploitation determined its legal outcome early on — is introduced in the very first shot, then hammered home harder the longer the pic goes on."[6]

Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, calling it a "[s]mart indictment of the media’s sensationalistic influence on the murder trial of Pamela Smart."[7] Beth Hanna from Indiewire in her review said that "Everything, from the nightly newscasts that feverishly covered Smart’s case to Zagar’s own film, is an edited story."[8]

See also

References
  1. "2014 Sundance Docs in Focus: CAPTIVATED: THE TRIALS OF PAMELA SMART". 26 December 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  2. "Sundance 2014: U.S. Documentary Competition". 10 January 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  3. "DOCUTOPIA: TRIALS BY MEDIA, FROM PAMELA SMART TO MARK CIAVARELLA". Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  4. "Sundance: A Documentary Defends Pamela Smart, the Sexpot Schoolteacher Convicted of Murder". Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  5. "Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart". Rotten Tomatoes.
  6. "Sundance Film Review: 'Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart'". 18 January 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  7. "Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart: Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  8. "Sundance Review: 'CAPTIVATED: The Trials of Pamela Smart' an Incisive Look at When TV Killed the Justice System". Retrieved 8 April 2014.
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