Susan Granger’s review of “Capturing the Friedmans” (Magnolia Pictures)
Where do documentary film-makers find inspiration? Andrew Jarecki, who co-founded Moviefone, was interviewing David Friedman (a.k.a. Silly Billy) about being a children’s party clown when he discovered a far more provocative story: namely, that Friedman’s father and brother had played pivotal roles in a Long Island sex, lies and videotape scandal back in 1987.. A popular high school teacher, Arnold Friedman, and his three sons were in the habit of videotaping themselves around the house, doing whatever it was that came naturally to them, recording good moments and bad. It was their chosen form of communication. And the intimate footage turned out to be so revealing that Arnold Friedman and his son Jesse were charged with molesting dozens of youngsters in the town of Great Neck. But were they really guilty? Andrew Jarecki utilizes the Friedman family film clips, along with detailed interviews, to paint a devastating cinematic portrait of a truly dysfunctional family. The Friedman scandal erupted when Arnold was caught in a post-office sting that led to a raid which netted a cache of child pornography. It was then discovered that he ran after-school computer classes in his basement and former students came forth with graphic accounts of molestation that had allegedly occurred. But are these tales credible? Or were they embellished by police pressure and mass hysteria? The documentary concludes by noting that Arnold died in prison, Jesse served his sentence and David Friedman is now Manhattan’s most successful party clown. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Capturing the Friedmans” is a disturbing, ambiguous 8. But there’s no question that the Friedman family dynamics makes the Osbournes seem tame by comparison.
