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Movies / On DVD / Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

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Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

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Reviews Counted:48

Fresh:45

Rotten:3

Average Rating:8/10

Consensus: Dear Zachary is a both a touching tribute to a fallen friend and a heart-wrenching account of justice gone astray, skillfully put to film with no emotion spared.

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER is not for the faint of heart. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne's excruciatingly powerful documentary begins as a memorial to a lost friend, Andrew Bagby, who... DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER is not for the faint of heart. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne's excruciatingly powerful documentary begins as a memorial to a lost friend, Andrew Bagby, who was brutally murdered in 2001 by a crazed ex-girlfriend. Yet as Kuenne traveled the globe to interview friends and family of the beloved young doctor, Bagby's killer, Shirley Turner, fled to Newfoundland to escape arrest. Under the backwards protection of the Canadian law, she was allowed to remain free; during that time, she revealed that she was pregnant with Andrew's child. Knowing that this woman was responsible for their son's death, David and Kathleen Bagby nonetheless moved to Newfoundland in order to be closer to their grandson. And that's when things got even worse. With DEAR ZACHARY, Kuenne has fashioned one of the more unusual, and devastating, documentaries of recent memory. It is a deeply personal home video memoir, a true crime thriller, an impassioned plea for judicial reform, and an ode to two of the most heroic, loving parents the screen has ever seen. Each of these, on its own terms, makes the film a striking success, but when they are seamlessly woven together into one narrative, it becomes something much more stunning. DEAR ZACHARY is painful viewing, but it is also nonfiction filmmaking at its most vital and important. [More]

Director: Kurt Kuenne

Director: Kurt Kuenne
Screenwriter: Kurt Kuenne
Producer: Kurt Kuenne
Composer: Kurt Kuenne
Studio: Oscilloscope Pictures

Reviews for Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

  • T-Meter Critics
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  • RT Community
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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Just take our advice and bring tissues. You’re going to need them.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
11/25/08
Hank Sartin
Hank Sartin
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A powerful home movie about real-world evil and good

Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
07/03/09
Marty Mapes
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit

Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne set out to make a memorial about his best friend, Dr. Andrew Bagby, with the intention of giving the tribute to Dr. Bagby's son, Zachary, so the boy--unborn at the time of Dr. Bagby's brutal murder, would know about the father whom h

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
05/27/09
Jennifer Merin
Jennifer Merin
About.com

One hell of a heart-wrenchingly sad, blisteringly angry, profoundly heartfelt movie that dares you to walk away with a shrug and a glib quip.

Full Review Source: Miss FlickChick | comment Comment
03/02/09
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
Miss FlickChick

The most ambitious work of its kind.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
02/26/09
Rob Humanick
Rob Humanick
Slant Magazine

Emocionalmente exaustivo. Não, mais: devastador. Profundamente devastador.

comment Comment
02/26/09
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

After it's through, a lot will have been said about friendship, injustice, and both faith in and letdown from the legal system, along with the intriguing thought that moral fortitude provides both its own punishments and rewards.

Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | comment Comment
12/09/08
Jeffrey Chen
Jeffrey Chen
Window to the Movies

A documentary that never should have been made, this film is maudlin tabloid journalism thrown onto the screen. All we get in the end is a cry for revenge.

Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment 10 Comments
12/08/08
Ron Wilkinson
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics

Long after the credits roll one will be rendered both empty and lifted by a bewildered family's sudden forbidden journey into the abyss of emotional darkness.

Full Review Source: Movie Eye | comment Comment
11/30/08
Frank Ochieng
Frank Ochieng
Movie Eye

It’s a brutal emotional experience.

Full Review Source: Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/25/08
Moriarty
Moriarty
Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews

The phrase labor of love is so often tossed about, but Kurt Kuenne's emotionally wrenching documentary is absolutely that.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
11/25/08
Jennifer Miller
Jennifer Miller
Premiere Magazine

A slick account of ancient crevices in the human psyche rendered in cutting-edge cinematic style.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
11/20/08
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic

The most emotionally powerful film of 2008... as deeply personal as any film you will ever see.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
11/19/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

A sincere heartfelt documentary about life, death and murder.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
11/14/08
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

You have no idea how much harder Dear Zachary ends up hitting.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
11/14/08
Stan Hall
Stan Hall
Oregonian

One of the best films of 2008.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
11/13/08
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

a documentary of wrenching pathos

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
11/11/08
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

While it truly is a sad tale of friendship and loss, it is far more unexpected, anguished and absolutely sincere. You may see it coming, but you will feel the emotional impact that will haunt you for days.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
11/10/08
JimmyO
JimmyO
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

An emotional roller-coaster of a movie, one that touches your heart and brings you to tears in some scenes, then enrages you in others.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/10/08
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

A manipulative, tearjerking thriller that, functioning as a sustained, anguished primal scream, is as emotionally devastating as any film, fiction or non-, released this year.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
11/09/08
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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Latest News for Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About...

October 20, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

June 25, 2008: MSNBC Getting Into Documentary Biz Opens in new window
The MSNBC network has launched a film imprint, the sensibly titled MSNBC Films, to finance documentaries and help the news network break into the movie business. More...

See All

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