See, this is how true crime documentaries are made, Netflix. I knew you had it in you to get one right eventually. Just the right length, the story told via original footage, using text exposition where necessary to move the story along, interviews to the point, and none of the rambling on or long drawn out pauses for dramatic effect. 8/10
Long Shot
2017
Action / Crime / Documentary / Sport
Long Shot
2017
Action / Crime / Documentary / Sport
Plot summary
When Juan Catalan is arrested for a murder he insists he didn't commit, he builds his case for innocence around unexpected raw footage.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
March 03, 2021 at 12:11 PM
Director
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
Netflix finally nails one
Curb Your Enthusiasm Along With A Cell Phone Literally Saves A Man's Life
I think we all get really upset when we find out an innocent man is convicted of a crime. The upset many times turns to outrage if the innocent party has been railroaded by law enforcement. I think most folks who never have any first hand contact with such have believed this almost never happens. Since the proliferation of a diverse number of real crime related shows this perception has been totally blown up.. There has been a whole generation of law enforcement who use very questionable tactics in order to achieve outcomes pre-determined must be. It's easy to blame "bad cops", but it's a generational thing that has morphed into what it is by being handed down to younger officers with only the admonition that it was successful before. One wonders if not for many innocently convicted people ultimately being exonerated through DNA and various other methods if this abuse would have just festered further?
Something else...science has now proved eye-witness testimony to be deeply flawed even immediately after an event and much more flawed over even modest amounts of time. This is how Juan Catalan came to be arrested for a murder for which he couldn't have possibly committed as he was no where near the actual murder scene. Police were totally convinced Catalan was lying and they chose to attempt to railroad him into admitting to a crime he did not do which he steadfastly denied. The zeal of the police should have at the least been professionally tempered as they came to believe Calalan was the killer just from a questionable witness and composite picture. The zeal only fed off the zeal of the prosecutor who had never lost a murder case. All of this made it look as if Catalan was heading for a conviction and a possible death sentence.
Sometimes justice is served against long odds. It often takes a bit of several serendipitous things all aligning. Catalan got a lawyer who zeroed in on proving his client was at a Dodger's game. Thus he needed something close to irrefutable which was proving hard to pin down since out of 57,000 people it becomes hard for strangers to remember strangers. That did not stop the attorney and in his never give up attitude something kind of miraculous happened. When the stadiums film showed Catalan at the game it was too blurry to be convincing beyond doubt things looked hardly better. However on that day there was some other video that existed. So rare was it that it only existed for the day in question only. But could it have what the defense needed?
Larry David's hit HBO show called Curb Your Enthusiasm was taping in the stadium and as it would turn out the very proof Catalan needed to prove Catalan waste the game...it was in the footage for this show. Almost beyond belief Larry David shares filmed frames with Catalan.
The final piece of making the case for Catalan's innocence was the timecode on the film which is the actual time of day. Here's the shocking bottom line: Juan Catalan may well be in prison for the rest of his life if not for the show Curb Your Enthusiasm. But wait...the time code wasn't late enough to absolutely and irrefutably put Catalan at the Dodger's game late enough Enter cell phone pinging. This will end up corroborating Catalan's presence at the stadium late enough to be convincing. So glad justice was righted here. But, we should all be outraged and incensed as the mechanism of justice isn't suppose to be pure chance. Things still must change to raise the quality of the entire justice system from the moment the badge goes on the the final sound of the gavel in the courtroom.
First I applaud the judge as her weighing of the truth was impeccable and 100% moral. I admonish the prosecutor and the detectives as they went with flawed evidence and pushed it to the extreme. We need more people in the chain of law like this wonderful judge and the unflappable and truth committed defense attorney. I finally give the makers of this documentary my highest praise. They made a dark turn of events into a very informative and entertaining film with an ending that was uplifting. See Long Shot!
Great doc
This is a really great short documentary. The story unfolds as Juan and his lawyer try desperately to prove that he was at a dodgers game with his daughter and not off murdering a man. The show is well made and unfolds unexpectedly. A great watch and an amazing story.