Home Run of a Documentary
Despite being short this murder documentary really packs a punch or more like a home run. Netflix has always done a really good job with it’s choice of documentaries and each one always ends up being a great talking point. Long Shot is one of those documentaries that will make you feel happy, upset, dissapointed and relieved all within it’s short forty minute run time.
Long Shot follows the story of 24-year old Juan Catalan who was accused of murdering 16 year old Martha Puebla in 2003. The only thing is that Juan swears it wasn’t him, a witness says it was him after working with a sketch artist, Juan is up againt a really tough attorney who fights for the death penalty and all while Juan knows he was at an LA Dodgers game during the murder.
All of these elements create what is a really intriguing documentary and one where I wish it was longer but also at the same time its also the perfect length because everything fits so perfectly. The added value for both the documentary and the case was that there was an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasim being filmed at Dodger Stadium and you follow Juan’s attorney as he desperately searches for footage that places Juan at the stadium while the murder is taking place.
Long Shot might be short but it’s a quick piece of entertainment while also having a strong and important message of corruption in the courts in the US. How many more of these documentaries could be made out of similar stories for those who might actually innocent? Juan Catalan has one of the most interesting stories and it could start a trend of more documentaries that are great like Long Shot.