From the police to the prosecutors there is a pattern of lies, deception, falsification and malice that undermines the veracity of the court system. Utterly disgraceful that Crane, now a judge, could not be held accountable.
19 Reviews
Really liked how this documentary was put together.
subxerogravity9 December 2015
Not sure weather it's me, or the times (most likely,the times), but documentaries seem so much different now than from what I remember. With Media being so much more apart of our lives than ever before, it makes it even easier to weave a doc that acts like a movie plot narrative.
Case in point, Dream/Killer is focused on Bill Ferguson, whose son, Ryan was convicted of murder. Knowing his son well and after seeing what happen during his trial, Bill is certain that his son got a bum rap and spends the next ten years obsessing over the case so much that he is able to find the holes Ryan's trail fell into in order to get a retrial.
It was laid out like an intense drama. They set up the events of the story first, then we really got to know Bill as a character, and they make us understand his determination, which makes the suspense of the movie even better, cause I could have just looked up on Google what happen before the film was over, but the documentary builds an investment in wanting to see how they unfold the hold thing
It's a lot like this movie Conviction with Hillary Swank and Sam Rockwell where a single mother becomes a lawyer to get smart enough to get her brother out of a lifetime sentence.
Conviction was based on a true story, but I guess that story happen before Trails were video taped, one hundred news channels existed to cover one story, and everyone had a camera on their phone to post something online.
Dream/Killer had all those elements, and what ever they did not have to tell the narrative with is when they used animation, like when Ryan tell us what it was like to spend 10 years in prison, animation is fairly popular in contemporary docs,
And of course, they used an age old documentary trick... Interviews from those who witness the events unravel first hand.
As a contemporary style documentary, it was done very basic and average, but that's good cause it let nothing distract it from the amazing story of a father's determination and love of his son.
Great crime drama!
Case in point, Dream/Killer is focused on Bill Ferguson, whose son, Ryan was convicted of murder. Knowing his son well and after seeing what happen during his trial, Bill is certain that his son got a bum rap and spends the next ten years obsessing over the case so much that he is able to find the holes Ryan's trail fell into in order to get a retrial.
It was laid out like an intense drama. They set up the events of the story first, then we really got to know Bill as a character, and they make us understand his determination, which makes the suspense of the movie even better, cause I could have just looked up on Google what happen before the film was over, but the documentary builds an investment in wanting to see how they unfold the hold thing
It's a lot like this movie Conviction with Hillary Swank and Sam Rockwell where a single mother becomes a lawyer to get smart enough to get her brother out of a lifetime sentence.
Conviction was based on a true story, but I guess that story happen before Trails were video taped, one hundred news channels existed to cover one story, and everyone had a camera on their phone to post something online.
Dream/Killer had all those elements, and what ever they did not have to tell the narrative with is when they used animation, like when Ryan tell us what it was like to spend 10 years in prison, animation is fairly popular in contemporary docs,
And of course, they used an age old documentary trick... Interviews from those who witness the events unravel first hand.
As a contemporary style documentary, it was done very basic and average, but that's good cause it let nothing distract it from the amazing story of a father's determination and love of his son.
Great crime drama!
Not bad but has glaring holes
mamet-947137 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This documentary contains one of my biggest pet peeves: it does not offer the person's alibi or the rest of the State's evidence.
Why are we never presented an alibi in this film? What was he doing on the night of the murder? Not that I believe he is guilty but mostly because it's shoddy filmmaking not to have included that and the rest of the State's evidence. These things keep the documentary from being complete and truly great.
The REAL killer is KEVIN CRANE
The_Boxing_Cat28 February 2019
Warning: Spoilers
HOW is Kevin Crane not in jail?
So far he is the most corrupt prosecutor/ judge in the United States.
Some one should be working to get him out of the justice system, just as everyone worked hard to free Ryan
As long as we have crooks like Kevin Crane-there is NO JUSTICE.
Some one should be working to get him out of the justice system, just as everyone worked hard to free Ryan
As long as we have crooks like Kevin Crane-there is NO JUSTICE.
Kevin Crane is a dirtbag!
tthirdbro26 November 2019
Man ... I just love the simpleness of Ryan's and his father's love for one another!! I hope jail didn't ruin the person he can be!! ... Its heartbreaking to see stuff like this. And a damn shame people like Kevin Crane "thrive" in the world we live in!!
Sad and eye opening.
zack_gideon3 December 2019
This is the story of a scum bag prosecutor who still works and is now a judge using a high profile case against a 17 year old kid and getting a conviction. Morals be dammed. This crane fella is pond scum. Happy Ryan is out. What a great documentary!
A sad case of how legal system works in the land of the free
atabac0119 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This review is more about the plot than how well the documentary was filmed. It does not even matter whether Ryan was guilty or not. According to the documentary and Wikipedia there was absolutely no evidence to charge him with the crime. He should not have been jailed at all but unfortunately mistakes happen; however he should have definitely been freed as soon as pretty much all the witnesses confessed to perjury. The county in this case behaved like a mob covering up for its members. It is amazing that something like that can happen here, in the US. I wonder how many more innocent people are behind the bars.
Gross Injustice On Every Level: Great Loss & A Murderer Still At Large
AudioFileZ24 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
It's hard not to start this review without expressing the belief that Judge (then prosecutor) Kevin Crane coerced false, as well as purposely suppressed, testimony in the murder case against Ryan Ferguson. Next would be additionally how the court failed the family of Kent Heiholt as the person, or persons, responsible for his death remain at large.
Normally the victim's injustice would be my main concern except for the fact the life of Ryan Ferguson was irreparably damaged by the inexcusable actions perpetrated deliberately by prosecutor Crane, not to mention the manipulated fabrications devised by the police interrogators. This was a travesty of justice all around compounded by Ferguson's original attorney being totally inept.
The above sets the stage for an excellent documentary about an extraordinary case whose final outcome would be shaped by two quite amazing individuals. Ryan's father Bill Ferguson, who qualifies as quite possibly the most devoted father imaginable even before his son's travails, after which he took his devotion to a whole other level.. His post Ryan's conviction life mission was to work until his son, whom he knew to be innocent, was freed. He, along with lawyer extraordinare Kathleen Zellner, did the impossible: reversing a staid and entrenched court's ironclad decision. This was accomplished by repeatedly (it took more than one appeal) exposing the corrupt nature of the original conviction - completely showing the malfeasance with manufactured testimony and suppressed evidence. Don't believe this can happen in today's law and judicial system? Watch this to be appalled and enlightened. It's important we, as a society, learn from unspeakable wrongs like this so moving forward our standards are set much higher. Dream/Killer is a recommended watch as it sticks to facts and lets the chips fall based only on facts. In this regard it is an important film which due to the fact it is made so well is eminently watchable.
Normally the victim's injustice would be my main concern except for the fact the life of Ryan Ferguson was irreparably damaged by the inexcusable actions perpetrated deliberately by prosecutor Crane, not to mention the manipulated fabrications devised by the police interrogators. This was a travesty of justice all around compounded by Ferguson's original attorney being totally inept.
The above sets the stage for an excellent documentary about an extraordinary case whose final outcome would be shaped by two quite amazing individuals. Ryan's father Bill Ferguson, who qualifies as quite possibly the most devoted father imaginable even before his son's travails, after which he took his devotion to a whole other level.. His post Ryan's conviction life mission was to work until his son, whom he knew to be innocent, was freed. He, along with lawyer extraordinare Kathleen Zellner, did the impossible: reversing a staid and entrenched court's ironclad decision. This was accomplished by repeatedly (it took more than one appeal) exposing the corrupt nature of the original conviction - completely showing the malfeasance with manufactured testimony and suppressed evidence. Don't believe this can happen in today's law and judicial system? Watch this to be appalled and enlightened. It's important we, as a society, learn from unspeakable wrongs like this so moving forward our standards are set much higher. Dream/Killer is a recommended watch as it sticks to facts and lets the chips fall based only on facts. In this regard it is an important film which due to the fact it is made so well is eminently watchable.
Great documentary
Calicodreamin5 January 2020
Exactly what a documentary should be, tells the facts, but keeps the storyline moving and doesn't get hung up in the details. This case is really unbelievable, sentencing a young man to life in prison with no physical evidence. The fight to appeal the sentence is a commendation to Ferguson's dad and lawyer Zellner. It's a good documentary with interviews and insights, but short and sweet.
This documentary is great
alijoydietcoke3 March 2020
What a great Dad and the Attorney Kathleen Zellner my HEROS!!
queencorn647 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This is the current problem I see with our system, CORRUPTION!! Corrupt Judges, Attorneys and Police Officers/Detectives! Not all are this way I understand but get one bad one going after you and things go south quickly!!! The good ole boys system needs to ended across this country!! Do you really think anything good comes out of their corrupt system! Then let's knock them down! If only we could! Judge Green and now Judge Crane(if he should be a judge then my a$$ is a whirley gig!) will hopefully get theirs one day! They should be in prison for perjury!
Ryan Ferguson... I hope you feel the LOVE from the world! I'm so sorry you went through this! I don't even have the words that are appropriate to tell you!! I would bet money that one day you will be an awesome Dad just like your Dad!
Great documentary I think every American should watch!
What a story
edwardjsmith-4301919 December 2021
I cannot believe that the corrput Kevin Crane is still sitting as a judge in Missouri.
Congrats to Mike and Leslie Ferguson for believing in Ryan.
And thank God Ryan is such a cool kid to keep calm when life seemed like it was over.
Godspeed the day that Kevin Crane gets to wear an orange jump suit and shackles.
Congrats to Mike and Leslie Ferguson for believing in Ryan.
And thank God Ryan is such a cool kid to keep calm when life seemed like it was over.
Godspeed the day that Kevin Crane gets to wear an orange jump suit and shackles.
How is Kevin Crane and the two Detectives not in jail?
andrew-189254 June 2021
Kevin Crane and the two detectives in this case are the real criminals. They coerced and falsified information against Ryan who was from the start an innocent person. Scumbags at their finest who acted no more than like TV salesman getting a sale over the line with no regard for the law, morality or their primary purpose to treat people as innocent until proven guilty. Crane and his detectives should be sued for $10 million each being $1m per year each for Ryan's wrongful and corrupt imprisonment. They al need to be jailed as they are the true criminals in this case and showing just how much the US legal system is completely corrupt and does not fulfil it's actual charter of accused are innocent until proven guilty. These clowns are let's get another notch on the belt no matter what. Crane and the detectives are a disgrace to their profession and need to be punished if not already. Pathetic humans!!
Flaws in the American judicial system
kswiss895 January 2020
As an American we live in a system of fairness, against our fellow man and against the government itself, but do we really?
Justice costs more than the normal person can afford, mostly along such a lengthy trial such as the one shown in this film, and at the end of the day if you encounter a prosecutor trying to make a name for himself in a certain case that works for the state, he doesn't have to worry about the how much it will ultimately cost. More documentaries need to come out about stuff like this allowing huge miscarriages of injustice to exist and expose those like the prosecutor, now judge, of this film
Justice costs more than the normal person can afford, mostly along such a lengthy trial such as the one shown in this film, and at the end of the day if you encounter a prosecutor trying to make a name for himself in a certain case that works for the state, he doesn't have to worry about the how much it will ultimately cost. More documentaries need to come out about stuff like this allowing huge miscarriages of injustice to exist and expose those like the prosecutor, now judge, of this film
Shocking
kauser-486393 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
A really well made documentary. Another shocking heartbreaking story from the crapshow that is america. Privatisation of the jail system. Police will do anything to get people into jail. Innocent lives, families meanwhile suffer. The only country where 1 in 4 are in prison.
Great documentary, unbelievably sad process of events
mario_cy-2457329 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I don't normally write reviews but felt i had to after watching this gripping and emotionally moving documentary. The investment you feel, particularly on behalf of the father's role in this story line is immense. His love for his son and determination in getting him freed over a decade and then the moment it was all rewarded through a reversed conviction was a spectacular moment which almost moved me to tears. The fact that a court decision which all the evidence pointed against, and that was demostrably incorrect was unable to get reversed for a decade leaving young boy in jail through all of his early adult life is a remarkably sad circumstance of events and highlights just how inept the US judicial system can be.
The story line and the way this documentary was put together made this an excellent watch which i would thoroughly recommend to anyone.
The story line and the way this documentary was put together made this an excellent watch which i would thoroughly recommend to anyone.
The Missouri Crime Enforcement & Justice System is Corrupt
bt698nhj29 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Thank god for Kathleen Zellner. Kevin Crane and Judge Green should be sent to countries where justice doesn't matter. The facts of the documentary are frustrating, but the documentary itself is very well done and satisfying. It is very telling that the state did not appeal the final verdict.
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