Merrick here...


Muldoon sent in this look at DEAR ZACHARY, a compelling looking film whose trailer you can view HERE.

Hey guys,

So SXSW was coming to an end and I had more than a blast this year and didn't think I'd be able to make it out to any screenings the last two days due to wonderful school projects... That said, I bumped into a friend on Friday and told him I was pretty burnt out with all of the craziness. He told me I pretty much had to watch one last movie, DEAR ZACHARY. I heard the premise and thought it sounded interesting, but it didn't fit into my movie watching/panel going schedule so I blew it off and got the opportunity to catch it Saturday at South Lamar's Drafthouse.

This movie is phenomenal. I had two fifty year old women sitting next to me who apparently hadn't picked up the whole not talking during movies deal in their long long lives, but that stuff stopped by the fifteen minute mark of the film. By the end of the movie, these women were speechless and wiping tears away left and right. The movie chronicles filmmaker Kurt Kuenne's journey to document the life of one of his best friends, the late Dr. Andrew Bagby. His friend was shot in cold blood and left for dead in a parking lot. All fingers pointed to the girlfriend, but she fled the US to St. John's, Newfoundland where four months later she would announce that she was four month's pregnant with Andrew Bagby's baby. Kuenne was then led to make this movie for that baby, so that he would know what a great man his father was. During filming, the late Dr. Bagby's parents moved to St. John's and fought for the custody of the child. They found the mother hiding in the screwed up legal system of Canada and were barely given any time with their grandson until she was finally held in jail for a short amount of time.

I'm trying not to give too much of the plot away, because no matter what I type or write about the film, I don't think even that will do it justice. DEAR ZACHARY is by far one of the greatest films I've seen in the last few years. It's not just a movie, but a gift from one friend to another. The amount of honest love in this movie is overwhelming and yeah, I'm the guy that likes random explosions and lots of overly stylized violence, but this movie is so much more than any film like those. This movie has heart and that's a truly rare experience to be sitting in a dark theater and truly witness something beautiful. With their murdered son gone and a flicker of him still present in Zachary's eyes, they truly devote their entire beings to cooperating with the woman they know killed their son in order to spend time with their grandson. I don't want to give any big spoilers out, but you will walk out of this film completely different than from how you walked in, unlike movies like 10,000 BC (which I still haven't gotten to see yet - looks retarded, but "big explosions..." "stylized violence...") where I can't imagine they make too much of an impact.

To wrap this up, this movie hands down was my favorite of the festival. After watching movies like NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS all week, this was a great film to end on. To be frank, I had to overt my eyes from the screen a few times from tearing up and that literally never happens. I'm not sappy and I don't dig movies that aren't good. I more than dig this movie and hope anyone and everyone is able to see it. By the end of the movie you will be wanting to write letters to Canada's government or taking action of some kind. The movie's website is http://www.dearzachary.com/ and I don't typically go out of my way to get people on to some website, but you should go check it out.

DEAR ZACHARY is a powerful film that will inspire you in so many different ways.

-Muldoon