2nd Chance is a captivating, fascinating and ultimately enraging documentary biopic about Richard Davis, the inventor of the bulletproof vest. The company he founded, Second Chance Body Armor, Inc, ended up in hot water after knowingly selling bulletproof vests that were defective. Before that, he owned a pizzeria which went bankrupt. Who would've thought that a pizzeria owner would become the owner of a company that sells bulletproof vests? It sounds almost like the kind of satire found in a Christopher Guest movie. Director Ramin Bahrani is very lucky to have an interesting, complex documentary subject and, on top of that, the access to interviews with him. Although 2nd Chance does chart Richard Davis' rise and fall, it's not a hit piece on him nor does it veer into hagiography. Bahrani humanizes Davis up to a point although not enough to achieve a profound character study of a con artist/narcissist/liar. Davis comes across as someone who's not very reliable in terms of honesty and decency; he's full of himself and lacks introspection as well as accountability and empathy which shows his severe lack of emotional maturity. How did he end up this way? Every behavior is learned from somewhere. Bharani lets the audience judge Davis for themselves, at least. However, the film itself remains somewhat limited in scope and doesn't explore some provocative, timely themes related to the subject, i.e. gun control, that are among the many underexplored elephants in the room. At a running time of just 1 hour and 29 minutes, 2nd Chance opens December 2nd, 2022 at Village East by Angelika, AMC Kips Bay and Alamo Drafthouse in Manhattan via Showtime Documentary Films and Bleecker Street.

      There have been many documentaries about the pandemic lately, but none of them quite as powerful, provocative and illuminating as Bad Axe. The title refers to the small town in Michigan where director David Siev grew up. In 2020, he returned to Bad Axe to help his Cambodian father, Chun, and Mexican-American mother, Rachel, run the family restaurant, Rachel's. He also has an older sister, Jaclyn, and a younger sister, Raquel who help to keep the restaurant afloat as well. Bad Axe serves as a portrait of a family coming together to help each other during difficult times as they adapt to the pandemic like many restaurants had to. Then it takes a surprising turn and becomes darker as the family deals with racism and xenophobia that affects him and his family emotionally and psychologically. Yet, they manage to persevere without backing down despite the abuse and harassment that they endure after they choose to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Meanwhile, tensions arise within the family when David's parents don't take the proper precautions to stay safe from Covid-19. His father also struggles to overcome the painful memories of his experiences in the Cambodian killing fields. Director David Siev covers a lot of ground in this very timely, engrossing and intimate documentary. At a running time of 1 hour and 42 minutes, Bad Axe opens at IFC Center via IFC Films.

      Last Flight Home is a poignant tribute to 92-year-old Eli Timoner, Ondi Timoner's father. Director by Ondi herself, the doc counts down the days until Eli's death. He had a stroke in 1983 that made him suffer emotionally and physically for decades. He died by assisted suicide in 2021. Last Flight Home is more about his life than his last days before he died, but Ondi Tominer doesn't shy away from showing what she and her mother went through as he lay on his hospital bed. It's not easy to watch those scenes at all nor should it be, however, death is part of life. The harsh reality is that everyone will have had or will have a loved one who will pass away one day. Fortunately, this doc also serves as a documentary biopic.  Eli founded Air Florida in 1971, so you'll learn about all of the ups and downs that he experienced as president of the company. You'll also learn that he's a true mensch as a human being and as a loving father. To be fair, you've lost a loved one recently, the hospital bed scenes will be even more difficult to watch, so it might be best to wait after you've grieved to watch this documentary. There's an intimate quality to the film that's warm and deeply moving, but it's a double-edged sword because, with that, comes a sense of voyeurism which might make you feel like you're prying into the private lives of these strangers who generously share their private moments with you. At a running time of 1 hour and 41 minutes, Last Flight Home is unflinching, powerful and heartbreaking. It opened at IFC Center via MTV Documentary Films on October 7th, 2022.

      The Quiet Epidemic is an eye-opening, fair and balanced exposé about the cover-up of chronic Lyme disease in the US. Every coin has more than 2 sides: there's the sides, the ridges, the sides of the ridges, etc. Co-directors Winslow Crane-Murdoch and Lindsay Keys display their terrific journalistic skills by showing multiple perspectives on the issue. You'll hear from the experts who deny that chronic Lyme disease exists and from the experts who believe that it does. You'll also hear from people who suffer from chronic lyme disease who desperately need their voices to be heard. The Quiet Epidemic presents plenty of evidence that there is indeed a suppression of chronic lyme disease going on in the medical establishment. Some patients are misdiagnosed. One of the "smoking guns" is the alarming fact that bands 31 and 34 skipped when testing for Lyme disease; if those bands were part of the test, many more patients would test positive for Lyme disease. The filmmakers grasp that it's not enough for a documentary to make the audience angry or preach to the choir (I'm looking at you, Michael Moore!), although, to be fair, you have every right to feel indignant while watching this doc. Beyond enraging you, it's also insightful and moving as you learn about the experiences of the people who suffer from chronic Lyme disease. So, The Quiet Epidemic manages to be persuasive, provocative and heartfelt while finding just the right balance between entertaining the audience, provoking them emotionally as well as intellectually. At a running time of 1 hour and 42 minutes, it opens December 2nd, 2022 at IFC Center via First Run Features. You'll never look at Lyme disease the same way again.

      The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile is a delightful, heartwarming and well-edited documentary. Director Kathlyn Horan merges two documentaries in one: a biopic about country singer/songwriter Tanya Tucker, and Tanya's collaboration with Brandi Carlisle to record her first album after stepping away from the music industry for nearly two decades. Fortunately, Horan combines those threads seamlessly. She does a wonderful job of introducing Tanya Tucker to the audience while providing background information about her childhood and personal struggles. Tanya Tucker comes across as a candid, intelligent, humble, emotionally mature and warm human being---but, above all, a human being, warts and all. You don't have to be into country music to enjoy this documentary. It's magical and uplifting beyond words to watch Tanya work behind-the-scenes on her new album with Brandi Carlile. Even though they never met before, it seems like they've been friends for life. Their camaraderie, love and compassion for each other as human beings and artists, concurrently, feels very palpable from start to finish. At a running time of 1 hour and 48 minutes, The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile opened October 21st, 2022 at Angelika Film Center and AMC Lincoln Square via Sony Pictures Classics.

      The Territory is a captivating, eye-opening and vital exposé about the deforestation of the land belonging to the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau of the Brazilian Amazon. They live within 7,000 square miles of rainforest which is legally protected by the government through the Constitition, but political candidate Jair Bolsonaro contradicted that by promising to take back the indigenous land from the Uru-eu-wau-wau in 2018. Since then, their land has been burned down and the trees have been cut down. Director Alex Pritz wastes no time within the first few minutes as he shows footage of a farmer on a dirt bike cutting down a tree with a chainsaw. That's clear-cut evidence of deforestation. He then introduces you to members of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau, i.e. Bitaté, as they bathe in a river. Through the images of the rainforest alone with its insects, animals, rivers and soul, Pritz captures the majestic beauty and purity of rainforest. To observe it being destroyed is both heartbreaking and horrifying, so in a way, The Territory is somewhat like a horror film, especially if you're passionate about nature and human rights.

      The Uru-eu-wau-wau have learned how to live off of the rainforest land for many years. They're happy there, as the footage shows beyond a reasonable down. There's also some exhilarating drone footage of the rainforest. Their land is legally theirs, so anyone who tries to take it away from them is crossing legal and moral boundaries. Pitz allows the film to be refreshingly fair and balanced by also showing Farmers banded together to form the Association of Rio Bonito to create farms inside the rainforest. They think that they're doing the right thing. Fortunately, The Territory doesn't villainize them; it humanizes them while letting the audience judge them if they wish to. Meanwhile, an environmental activist, Neidinha Bandeira, struggles to help the Uru-eu-wau-wau to protect their sacred, but she faces a lot of legal red tape and an uphill battle as she bravely fights for the underdog. At a running time of 1 hour and 24 minutes, The Territory opened on August 19th, 2022 at Film Forum via National Geographic Documentary Films.

More reviews coming soon.

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