Menace (2008 TV Movie) User Reviews

A well fleshed out story that shows the failings of the Canadian judicial system

[marty-133 · 8/10 · 11 February 2008]

The average Canadian will think this film is about the events that unfolded one morning in which four mounties lost their lives. It isn't, and it shouldn't be.

The focus is instead on the perpetrator's past -- how a man who was responsible for the rape and exploitation of the town's young, was known for aggression and intimidation against any who sided with the law against him, and was also known for his love of all things related to firearms was able to get off with a few slaps on the wrist and a total of two years in jail.

The movie makes it blatantly obvious that the local police force and many of Mayenthorpe's citizens wrung their hands in impotent frustration, crippled to inaction in order to tow the line with a judicial system that pays them back with no justice whatsoever.

A great story that fleshes things out -- bridging the disconnect that was so prevalent between the newspaper headlines and an actually understanding of what happened that day in Mayenthorpe -- and more importantly that there were many chances to stop it well before it took place.

A well laid-out movie. Gripping, tragic, and true.

[ssucks1 · 8/10 · 10 February 2008]

For one to fully understand this movie, I recommend reading at least one Canadian media report on the Mayerthorpe tragedy before viewing the movie. The movie starts on the ranch of James Roszko in Mayerthorpe, Alberta. Two repo men show up to repossess Roszko's new Ford Pickup. Instead of allowing them in, he sticks his dogs on them and drives off with the pickup. The repo men call the police, who enter the main building on the property to find a marijuana grow-op and a chop shop full of stolen property. Thus begins the police involvement ultimately leading to the tragedy.

Throughout the movie, the viewer is frequently taken back to different periods in time as far back as 1992. It follows Cst. Leo Johnston on some of his frequent encounters with Mr. Roszko, all of which end bitterly. It shows Mr.Roszko's predatory nature, how he stalks and lures young teenagers throughout the years, as well as how he *allegedly* threatens witnesses just before they are set to testify against him. All of the involved teenagers eventually reveal that they were forced to commit sexual acts with Mr. Roszko, which he took pictures of. Those reveal of those pictures is one thing he threatens the teens with should they testify.

The viewer must pay attention for the entire movie, as the focus moves around so much that it is easy to loose track.

The movie wraps up at the ranch in 2005, where police are still monitoring the property after discovering and removing the grow-op. During the night, Mr. Roszko manages to sneak back onto the property with several weapons, lays in wait, and ultimately kills four RCMP officers as they take a look inside his main steel building.

While the movie is not 100% non-fiction, it does a good job of laying out the history of Mr. Roszko's involvement with the RCMP, and showing his likely motivation for his actions. I recommend that anyone with 2hours to burn sit down and watch this movie. There's no good reason not to.

The Mayerthrope Incident

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 8 February 2011]

***SPOILERS*** True story of the biggest massacre of Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, in that country's history. It all began as a simple seizure of James Roszko's, Brian Maricinson, pick-up truck that he was late as much as six months in back payments. This soon mushroomed into a full scale firefight with Roszko opening fire on a squad of Canadian Mounties who were called in to help apprehend him! Roszko ended up killing four of them as they tried enter his farmhouse! What so unusual about all this is that Roszko was an accident just waiting to happen and what he ended up doing was anything but accidental.it was pre-planned and executed with deadly accuracy!

The made for TV movie "Menace" cuts back from the deadly incident at Mayerthrope on March 3, 2005 back to the period of 1992-1996 when Roszko was involved in pedophilia and illegal drug and gun running in the Canadian province of Alberta.

We get to see how Roszko was able to manipulate the justice system by intimidating those whom he preyed upon; teenage boys. Mixing with boys half his age Raszko started getting them involved in sex acts with him after winning over their confidence by buying them gifts and giving them free pot, that he grew in his farm, to get high on. Whenever one of his victims got out of line Roszko not only worked them over and threaten to kill them, with his arsenal of illegal firearms, but blackmailed them with photos he took of them preforming sex act on him! With of course Raszko's face was never seen in any of the photos!

It was local police Corporal Alex Stanton, Henry Czerny, who tried to get the very dangerous Roszko off the streets and behind bars before he eventually killed someone. No matter what Corporal Stanton did Roszko and his court appointed attorneys alway found a way to have the case thrown out court. The law finally caught up with Roszko over a very minor infraction, non-payment for a pick-up truck, of it which ended up costing the lives of four Canadian Mounties! It was in Roszko getting away with all the crimes he committed over the last 15 years that emboldened him to think that he was untouchable from the law! As things turned out Roszko was by him not any court of law or law enforcer doing to himself what the law should have done for some 15 years! Put him out of circulation once and for all!

Real-life menace to society

[tay-15 · 6/10 · 18 November 2010]

Menace recounts the deadly shootout between local bully James Roszko and Canadian police, by inter-cutting two different narratives: One, following the events of the final confrontation; and the second, showing flashbacks to Roszko's repeated run-ins with the law, spanning the nearly 15 years before the shooting.

Local police, particularly Corporal Alex Stanton (Henry Czerny), recognize early on that Roszko (Brian Markinson) is a threat to the small community of Mayerthorpe, especially to young boys, but despite Stanton's best efforts, Roszko manages to avoid prosecution until disaster occurs.

This is the familiar story of a sociopath who manages to fall through the cracks of the judicial system, even though common sense dictates he should be locked up. Czerny delivers the film's best performance, conveying Stanton's frustration as he is repeatedly thwarted in his efforts to get a dangerous man off the streets - while remaining emotionally contained, as his profession requires. In one effective scene, Stanton boils over for a split second and yells at Roszko, causing him to flinch.

Markinson is appropriately creepy as the unrepentant Roszko, who becomes a powder keg ready to blow as society fails to check his actions. Diane Ladd makes a brief appearance as Roszko's dysfunctional mother, hinting at the source of Roszko's demons.

There's nothing particularly distinguished about this made-for-TV docudrama, which is reminiscent of many similar U.S. productions; however, the stark Canadian setting makes it more interesting, as Canada is generally unfamiliar with the type of violence that is rampant in the U.S. Appropriately enough, the assault weapon used against the police was obtained in the U.S.

And as with similar films, one can't help pondering the issues raised, starting with the precarious balance of the individual's rights in a free society vs. the safety of a community. In a society that is insane enough to allow ownership of automatic weapons (without which, this slaughter could not have occurred), perhaps something has to give way.

Recommended particularly for Czerny's performance.

amazing

[jory-and-sammie · 10/10 · 11 February 2008]

this was by far one of the best movies i have ever watched.i had high expectations for this movie and was not disappointed. it was a moving and tragic portrayal of a horrific event in Canadian history. As your watching it's hard to believe that it actually happened, i kept thinking about how horrible it was. i found it was a very well made movie.it kept my attention through out, there was rarely a dull moment, full of action, emotion, excitement and anticipation. i could barely wait for the commercials to be over so i could get back into the movie to see what was going to happen next. by the end i was moved to tears. i highly recommend this movie.