American Hangman

source: American Hangman

source: American Hangman

"American Hangman" was a well-produced, low-budget film. The premise of the live streaming of a vigilante's trial of a judge was clever and at times insightful. The most memorable portions of the dialogue were the arguments about the inherent flaws in the American legal system. Donald Sutherland is convincing in the role of the judge, arguing the case of his life. The filmmakers were successful in avoiding a static, single room environment by incorporating the response of the local police and the media. There was an interesting batch of characters, including the veteran police officer about to retire, the rogue tech expert tracking the courtroom scene, and the detective involved in the case that convicted an innocent man. It was apparent at the outset that the detective was defensive about his work and knew that the case was flawed. There was only room for improvement in the characterization of the perp, which was nondescript and bland. A weakness of the film was in the ending, which was abrupt and lacked any sense of denouement. The audience needed to learn something about the aftermath of this bizarre and painful saga.

"American Hangman" is a made in Canada crime thriller that fires plenty of pot shots at the American judicial system. While the points are laid on a bit thick, there is still much to chew on here. Well intentioned. Well acted. And the great Donald Sutherland (a native Canuck) classes up any joint.

Pretty cool premise. It held my attention throughout. Man kidnaps a judge who wrongly sentenced a man to death. It falls apart, however, when the kidnapper's motives are revealed. The kidnapper's self righteous attitude is now seen as ridiculous. The judge, on the other hand, never becomes likeable. I found myself not caring what happened to either character. Maybe this was the director's intention. Who knows? To the ending..Rushed and illogical. How so? 1) Apparently the kidnapper not only knew his location would be discovered, but also the precise time. 2) Seems he also was able to miraculously predict the police would handle the intervention like amateur hour. Fire away, guys. Oh, and hey Your Honor, hold this gun so they'll take you out too. Overall, a decent opening that goes sharply downhill and eventually falls off the cliff.

Trying desperately to be a SAW clone in style but failing miserably after half decent beginning soon becomes tired and cliched.

Is it that they don't like the production company? Don't like great acting? This movie was epic. The story as original as it gets. The acting top notch, Donald Sutherland is about as good as it gets. The bashing of the judicial and legal system is not lost on anyone here. It touches nerves, makes you ask questions long after the movie ends! Watch this movie and enjoy a badass thriller with twist and turns, great script writing and great casting...9 out of 10!

This had me gripped just as much as the characters in the film were to the internet feeds. Donald Sutherland shows his talent in a very under rated film

During the first scene of 'American Hangman' I thought to myself this seems an awful lot like 'Saw'. Then one of the characters actually mentioned the scenario being similar to 'Saw' (without ever actually mentioning the title) and I realised this film may just be smarter than I anticipated. Thankfully it turned out I was right. The film is a fun ride from start to finish. The pacing is the best thing this has going for it. I was never bored for a second. There were multiple different angles the story was being told from and each served its purpose well. It was also twisty without being overbearing or obvious. The only real let-downs were some clunky dialogues (particularly near the start, things seemed to improve as the film went along) and an ending that I felt could have been handled better. It was a smart film and I felt it could've been smarter in its conclusion. Overall though I had a great time with 'American Hangman' and would highly recommend that people give it a look.

PLOT SPOILER. Judge Straight (Donald Sutherland) is abducted and held captive in a basement with a lot of cameras. His captour is holding a trial claiming the judge who presided over a high profile murder case, got the verdict wrong and put an innocent man to death. It doesn't take long to figure things out as this is supposed to be some kind of criticism of the American judicial system that was done very poorly. The film reminded me too much of "Harodim." It is slow and boring. The only real issue the film resolved is that Donald Sutherland is indeed still alive. Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.