Documentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with sh... Read allDocumentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.Documentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 25 wins & 16 nominations total
Arnold Friedman
- Self
- (archive footage)
Seth Friedman
- Self
- (archive footage)
Frances Galasso
- Self
- (as Det. Frances Galasso)
Chuck Scarborough
- Self
- (archive footage)
Abbey Boklan
- Self
- (as Judge Abbey Boklan)
Larry King
- Self
- (archive footage)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector/producer Andrew Jarecki was in the process of making a documentary about people who work as children's birthday party clowns in New York which led to the discovery of David Friedman's story. David Friedman was considered the most successful of the city's party clowns. The resulting clown documentary, Just a Clown (2004), is included as an extra on the DVD for this movie.
- Crazy creditsOnly the immediate members of the Friedman family (listed 1-5) are credited in a standard cast list. The other cast members are identified by on-screen graphics.
- ConnectionsFeatured in SexTV: Playgirl/Peter Gorman/Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
- SoundtracksAct Naturally
Performed by Buck Owens
Written by Vonnie Morrison and Johnny Russell
Courtesy of Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI)
Featured review
Freak Show
This movie deals with the sadly familiar topics of dysfunctional families, pedophilia, incest, child abuse, and incompetent psychologists and prosecutors. As the media spotlight has turned from the molesters and rapists to social workers, investigators and prosecutors who obviously have some embarrassing issues of their own, we now find ourselves in a situation in which even an admitted pedophile like Arnold Friedman can find sympathizers. I'm not one of those people that cries "Believe the victims!" without bothering to find out whether the "victim" is a victim of a pedophile predator, or of a disgustingly sick social worker or prosecutor. But it's the unfortunate truth that public reaction to the latter has now placed us in a position where a real pedophile predator can hide behind accusations of "false memory." Nice job, Freudians.
Capturing the Friedmans show us all sides of this story. Obviously, if any of the interviewees was lying when the case went to trial, they can't possibly admit it now, not even to themselves. The truth is unknowable and the damage is irreparable. The only person who seems to have moved on to a semblance of a normal life, at least as far as we are shown, is Elaine Friedman. She has remarried -- quite well, apparently -- and is living out her remaining days in pastoral serenity in the Berkshires. (She looks rather medicated in her interviews, but that might just be her style.)
But the movie is basically a freak show. This bizarre family made lots of home movies and videos of themselves being bizarre, and once we start looking we can't stop. Shame on us.
Capturing the Friedmans show us all sides of this story. Obviously, if any of the interviewees was lying when the case went to trial, they can't possibly admit it now, not even to themselves. The truth is unknowable and the damage is irreparable. The only person who seems to have moved on to a semblance of a normal life, at least as far as we are shown, is Elaine Friedman. She has remarried -- quite well, apparently -- and is living out her remaining days in pastoral serenity in the Berkshires. (She looks rather medicated in her interviews, but that might just be her style.)
But the movie is basically a freak show. This bizarre family made lots of home movies and videos of themselves being bizarre, and once we start looking we can't stop. Shame on us.
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $3,119,113
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $65,154
- Jun 1, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $4,076,990
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