The Fear of 13 (2015)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Admirable film.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I have never watched this type of documentary/film before, as in my own ignorance. I thought the genre would be dull and boring. I am a 48 year old film buff. Making myself proclaimed lack of knowledge embarrassing. I was hooked from the first minute and often questioned whether the subject, star and former Death Row prisoner could be the person telling the story about his own life. I have too admit I googled it, as I did not believe how good the narrative was. It is a true story about how people can go off the rails in life, with seemingly no hope for a future. Soldier on with guilt in their soul for the poor life decisions they made for themselves. Yet one trigger of an undeserved good deed from a fellow human, can send that person on a path in a completely opposite direction. Watch this for ten minutes without getting hooked or give my review the thumbs down.

I don't generally review Documentaries, but sometimes a documentary comes along that is so compelling, people need to know about it. The Fear of 13 is the biography of a man, that most of us have never heard of, Nicholas Yarris. His was one of the first cases taken on by the Innocence Project and he is a prime example of not only the system failing to help someone, but a reason that it should scare the hell out of you. Yarris wasn't a great guy, when he was pulled over in the wrong place at the wrong time. Given his criminal history and inability to pay for a proper defense, Yarris was the perfect target for an over zealous District Attorney. Despite being based on completely circumstantial evidence, Yarris was convinced of murder and sentenced to death row. His life was troubled on the outside, but what happened in prison made it seem like a walk in the park. For twenty years, Yarris's cries fell on deaf ears, and it wasn't until he gave up and said, just kill me already, that someone finally noticed him. Nicholas Yarris's story is the kind of thing you can't make up and someday, I'd love to see a movie version of it. This man was never considered innocent and he wasn't proved guilty, yet he was forced to endure government sanctioned torture, the likes of which we couldn't possibly imagine. This is an eye opening documentary that must be seen by all and afterwards it may just change your opinion on our criminal justice system.

The story of Nick Yarris was completely alien to me before I saw this documentary. The first impression I got when introduced to him was that of great sadness and loss. His face and body looked tired, drained from whatever he had experienced - at the end I understood why. The Fear of 13 does not necessarily tackle new issues; nor does it highlight anything one hasn't seen before. The struggles of convicts, their fight for survival inside a maximum security prison is no new genre. However, this story sucks you in from the beginning and keeps you listening all the way to the end. Stripping the documentary down to the bare essentials keeps it intriguing. Atmospheric music complements Yarris' somber voice with recreated scenes as he opens up about his past. And although the narrative of death row inmates have been shared before, there is an eloquence about Yarris that makes his story unique. There are times when I doubted the authenticity of certain professed anecdotes, but it was hard to disagree with the vigor in which he spoke about them.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning In 2002, Nick Yarris, a death row prisoner since 1985, wrote to the authorities, eager to move his execution date forward, not relishing the prospect of going through another appeal, before some startling new evidence came to light and quashed his conviction after many years. Speaking directly to the camera, he narrates the tale of the build up to his arrest, the circumstances surrounding his life at the time, his experiences in prison and some traumatic events from his past that further shaped his mind.There can't be much more interesting sights to witness than that of a man with nothing to lose. A man who can reveal his innermost desires, thoughts and feelings without any sense of trepidation, given he's already building up to the final moment when it will all be gone. From our first moment with him, Nick Yarris strikes us as a guy with words just flying off the tip of his tongue, but with a surprising degree of eloquence and articulation (having taken up reading old books during his lonely hours on death row) in how he conveys them. And, in a short time frame, director David Sington draws out plenty of backstory from him.Yarris was hardly a model citizen before his incarceration, and if you consider we don't even learn of his innocence until the end, it's even harder to illicit sympathy with someone who still describes a life with little respect for the law and individual liberty. But nonetheless, he still spins quite a gripping yarn, and Sington further enhances the experience with the use of the camera, slowly hovering over seemingly mundane objects, and capturing the eerie silence of the empty prison with great clarity.It takes a deeply unappealing individual, and somehow manages to illuminate him as a human being, and enthral you in his woes and wherefores. A stirring and emotional tale that shines light from the darkest place. ****