Blue Caprice

Director: Alexandre Moors Alexandre Moors

Overview

The true story of the "Beltway Snipers," who killed ten people in a series of shootings in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C., during 2002, is dramatized in this powerful independent psychological study. Lee Malvo (Tequan Richmond) was a seventeen-year-old living in Antigua who had been left to fend for himself by his single mother when he met John Allen Muhammad (Isaiah Washington), an American tourist in his early forties. In John, Lee found a paternal figure willing to give him the guidance and support he'd never received from his family, and when John returned to Tacoma, Washington, Lee joined him. However, Lee would soon come to know another side of John, a man who was filled with rage, endlessly bitter about his failed marriage, and a stern taskmaster whose demands of Lee included increasingly bizarre demonstrations of loyalty. John, an Army veteran, introduces Lee to his old friend Ray (Tim Blake Nelson), and they teach Lee how to use a rifle; when Lee turns out to be an excellent shot, he and John make their way East, where John's vindictive side takes on a new and more destructive form. Directed by French filmmaker Alexandre Moors, Blue Caprice made its American premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/14/2014
UPC:	0030306989792
Original Release:	2013
Rating:	R
Source:	MPI HOME VIDEO
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:33:00
Sales rank:	46,420

Special Features

Commentary with director Alexandre Moors and writer R.F.I. Porto; Press conference - Deauville Film Festival; Behind the scenes; Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Isaiah Washington	John Allen Muhammed
Tequan Richmond	Lee Boyd Malvo
Tim Blake Nelson	Ray
Joey Lauren Adams	Jamie
Cassandra Freeman	Angela
Leo Fitzpatrick	Arms Dealer
Linda Powell	Case Worker
April Yvette Thompson	Lee's Mother
Ron Simons	Store Manager
Al Sapienza	Detective Harper
Cassandra F. Freeman	Angela
Colin Stetson	Composer
Sarah Neufield	Composer

Technical Credits

Alexandre Moors

R.F.I. Porto

Alexandre Moors	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
R.F.I. Porto	Screenwriter
Stephen Tedeschi	Producer
Ron Simons	Producer
Kim Jackson	Producer
Brian O'Carroll	Producer
Will Rowbotham	Producer
Aimee Schoof	Producer
Isen Robbins	Producer
Hilary Stabb	Executive Producer
Charles Parlato	Executive Producer
Jonathan Gray	Executive Producer
Eve Battaglia	Casting
Isaiah Washington	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

A compelling depiction of psychological decline, Alexandre Moors' Blue Caprice favors slow-burn drama over true-crime sensationalism as it explores how the symbiotic relationship between an angry father and an abandoned youth led to a series of shootings dubbed the Beltway sniper attacks by the media. Though the momentum occasionally lags, a simmering performance by Isaiah Washington keeps us riveted as Ronnie Porto's emotionally textured screenplay slowly reveals how the ersatz father figure manipulated a desperate teen into committing a series of shootings that terrorized residents of Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia in October of 2002, resulting in ten deaths and three serious injuries. The story begins in Antigua, where suicidal 17-year-old Lee Malvo (Tequan Richmond) wades deep into the Caribbean Sea after being abandoned by his mother. Rescued by American tourist John Allen Muhammad (Washington), who's vacationing there with his three young children, Malvo accepts the man's invitation to start a new life in America. Once in Tacoma, WA, the pair cross paths with Muhammad's old friend Ray (Tim Blake Nelson), who discovers that young Malvo is a natural with a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle during an impromptu shooting session in the woods. Meanwhile, as Malvo begins to acclimate to his new life, Muhammad grows increasingly bitter over his contentious relationship with his strong-willed ex-wife, who has filed a restraining order that prevents him from contacting his children. Constantly referring to Malvo as his "son," the malevolent father figure subjects the displaced teen to a bizarre series of loyalty tests that crescendo in bloodshed. When the authorities fail to solve a pair of murders committed by Malvo, the young killer and his mentor grow empowered, deciding that the best way to shake up the system is to commit a series of random shootings that will inspire the displaced in other cities to follow suit. All too often, it feels as if true-crime stories are used by filmmakers to either explore the romantic life of an outlaw or to exploit the details that were too sordid for the mainstream media. In Blue Caprice, first-time screenwriter Porto makes a genuine attempt to examine how the mutually beneficial relationship between two desperate men at different stages of their lives slowly turned toxic. When we first meet Muhammad, he looks like any other loving father. In rescuing Malvo from certain death, he displays a sense of paternal altruism that only seems to be reinforced when he invites the young man back to the U.S. Once they're on Muhammad's native soil, however, the screenplay begins to drop subtle hints that we, much like Malvo, have been deceived. Porto isn't as interested in offering a detailed glimpse into Muhammad's turbulent background as he is in allowing the man's actions to speak for themselves, and in doing so he gives Washington the tools to turn in a deeply unsettling performance. We instinctively tense up every time he appears onscreen, and for good reason: This is a calculating, manipulative man on the precipice of something unthinkable, and even more terrifying, he's not only fully aware that he's creating a monster, but longs to create legions of them. His unnerving performance perfectly complements Porto's impressionistic screenplay, and offers a satisfying contrast to Richmond's appropriately hollow turn as Malvo. Nelson, meanwhile, is sturdy as ever as Ray, the loyal friend who fails recognize the danger signs while attempting to help a pal in need. Blue Caprice certainly isn't for all tastes -- Porto's deliberately abstract approach will frustrate the detail-oriented, and Moors' restrained direction will bore exploitation fans -- but for those of us who still possess a healthy attention span and a curiosity about what makes the criminal mind tick, it's a sober, fascinating character study and a strong feature debut from two talented young storytellers.