When an interviewer asked actor Willem Dafoe whether he preferred to play good guys or bad guys, Dafoe had this to say, “Don’t make no difference. Everybody thinks they’re righteous.” I bring up Dafoe’s quote as it simplifies the mindset of John Allen Muhammad, one half of the pair of the beltway sniper shooters in D.C. during the fall of 2002. Muhammad, alongside Lee Boyd Malvo, created chaos from October 2, 2002 through October 22, 2002. In his directorial debut, Alexandre Moors takes a sensitive topic and puts it on screen as beautifully as one could imagine. He doesn’t focus on creating something focusing on the killings of innocent of individuals, but instead he focuses on the twisted father-son relationship between Muhammad and Malvo.
Beginning on the island of Antigua, a teenage boy, Lee, (Richmond) watches his mother pack for a trip to never return. Left hungry and alone to fend for himself, Lee spots a man, John (Washington) with three children walking along the street happily. Lee follows them to a beach and, either a way to catch his attention or to take his own life, attempts to drown himself. John saves his life and takes him in, bringing him back home to Tacoma, Washington. The two stay with John’s girlfriend as John begins to introduce Lee as his son. As the two spend more time together, John begins to confide in the kid about his failed marriage and his bitter hatred towards the universe and its people.
After being kicked out of his girlfriend’s house, John goes to his friend Ray (Nelson) and his girlfriend Jamie (Adams). John, Lee, and Ray go shooting to blow off steam, where Lee happens to be a natural. Once Lee holds a gun for the first, the look in his eyes show that it certainly wouldn’t be the last. John and Lee begin to head out into the woods where they would run and train. The more they spend time together, the more the humanity in Lee begins to vanish. Lee wants to prove to his father that he loves home, and to do that he shoots the daughter of an old neighbor of John’s that testified against him. Just the first killing John has planned, we watch him brainwash Lee to get Lee to do it again. John buys a run-down blue Chevy Caprice for the road trip the two plan on going on to Maryland after finding out that’s where John’s family is. What ends up happening next is so much more than revenge on his wife, but is his revenge against the world.
Going into Blue Caprice, the name that everyone will know is Isaiah Washington. Leaving the film, everyone will know the name Tequan Richmond. Watching a kid transform into a monster isn’t something that’s enjoyable, but Tequan as Lee is such a delight since we’re watching a young kid blossom before our eyes. With very limited dialogue, we’re forced to go by his expressions and his movements. Richmond has such an expressive face that you can tell what he’s thinking and how he’s feeling in just a shift of a glance. Washington gives the performance of a lifetime as well as a man who is so disturbed and troubled and who believes what he’s doing is right. While at no point I felt like I agreed with John, the way he talked and described his ambitions…it wouldn’t have been surprising if he could go on with his big plans.
With extraordinary performances, lyrical and captivating camerawork, and a script that never tries to be more than it really is, Alexandre Moors “Blue Caprice” (his first feature film as well) is a captivating, methodical monster film that truly does terrify. Using monster to describe John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo is fitting for the crimes they committed. We’re never given a true, direct answer as to why these two men committed these murders and I can’t say that actually having an answer would make anything feel any better. Moors leaves the film open for interpretation so we can make of it what we will, but in the last shot of the film seeing Lee staring so angrily at the camera… the work is done for us.
Sundance Selects will release “Blue Caprice” in New York on September 13th, Los Angeles and Washington DC on September 20th, with expansion to follow.
-Joshua Kaye
