What I'm Watching (Volume 4): OJ: Made in America

I recently finished OJ: Made in America, a 7 and a half hour long documentary! No, it's not produced by Ken Burns, but is actually a portion of the 30 for 30 documentary series on ESPN, although they documentaries are usually not quite as long. Director Ezra Edelman was unknown to me by name, but upon looking into his filmography a bit, I saw that he had also done the superb Requiem for the Big East for 30 for 30, and was naturally intrigued by the story.

I was 7 when all of the OJ drama was going on, and barely remember it at all. I knew that he was a football player, and remember the white Bronco on TV, and I knew that he was probably guilty, but that he got off due to his money and the skillful defense team the money was able to buy. I turned on the documentary intending to figure out how a self-respecting jury could have ruled the man innocent, given all the evidence against him, but what you actually receive in the film is so much more important and interesting than that relatively uninteresting tale of prosecutorial ineptitude.

The fascinating thing about OJ: Made in America is just how far back it goes, discussing the roots of racism in America and particularly in LA, paralleling it with OJ's own fascinating attempts to be seen as something other than a black man, and be judged entirely on his merit. This is the story you didn't intend to see, but in the skilled hands of Edelman, it's all tied together in a package that makes an enormous amount of sense.

Despite the gargantuan 7 and a half hours worth of content, Edelman manages to keep the narrative whole and intriguing throughout the vast majority of it, although like the Burns films after which this is almost certainly modeled, there are a few ho hum moments that likely could have been cut. But this is a remarkable accomplishment by a skilled director and his team, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about OJ and the roots that colored his dramatic rise and fall.

I'll give OJ: Made in America a 9.5/10. It's really an excellent documentary that will be interesting to a huge set of people, regardless of your race or interest in sports.

-TRO