Dear Zachary Will Wreck You

I'd heard about this documentray. About how it leaves you in a quivering pile after sucker punching you in the heart for an hour and half.

They weren't lying.

Andrew Bagby was loved by all. Friends and family and even strangers were seemingly sucked into the wake of this charasmatic young man. He went off to Canada to pursue a medical degree and came to a dark place. During this time, he got involved with a older woman. Upon graduation, he moved back to the states and eventually fell back in love with his profession. As his world brightened up, he realized that the woman he was with was not right for him. Andrew breaks up with Shirley and sees the last of her and she flys back home. 18 hours later, Andrew has been shot 5 times and Shirley is the only obvious culprit. Andrew's parents, convinced of her guilt, uproot their lives and fly to Canada to do what they can to bring her to justice.

And find out she's pregnant.

The Zachary in the title is Andrew and Shriley's son. And the rest of the doc is about the fight of two grandparents to be involved in the life of the only living remnant of their beloved son.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is rough in more ways than one. The events that unfold are devastating. It's impossible to watch and not be moved, at least a little, you cold hearted bastard. Andrew was a vibrant and loved man and it feels so wasteful to see him gunned down in the prime of life.

On the other hand...holy shit, this thing is badly edited. I know some of that is me, bringing in my own work to this, but damn. Jump cuts all over the place, terrible use of music, odd sound effects and a very biased view of the preceedings (to the point of openly mocking the other parties involved) make for a very poor presentation.

I think it's a movie worth seeing. It's very powerful. It'll move and shock you. However, be prepared for amateur filmmaking 101 as you finish this draining piece of work.