The D.C. Sniper's Wife: A Barbara Kopple Film

Tragic news stories grip the media, make headlines and scare the general public. In 2002, a nut by the name of John Allen Muhammad went on a killing spree targeting random victims. Many TV shows & movies used this incident and there always comes a question of what is distasteful when death gets milked for profit. 'The D. C. Snipers Wife' can't escape that dubious cash-in feeling.

Per the title, Mildred D. Muhammad is the central focus explaining her former husband in an odd arrangement. She begins talking about his military service and two troubling events with him at the center of which she staunchly seems in defense. What makes it odd is when the narrative switch gets flipped and she's in fear for her life.

To power through this you get a lot of talking heads with cops that were involved in the manhunt and a few family, friends. It sensationalizes the incident thru 911 calls. Playing up the fear by highlighting the individual days of terror. Spliced in is old camcorder footage of John Allen to play up his evilness and Mildred's words to back them up.

A senseless event from a disturbed person that made huge headlines and she throws her hat in the ring (with the help of filmmaker Barbara Kopple). There's no deep insights and not always easy to sympathize. An annoying vibe that here's at all times goes into overdrive near the end when her kids are trotted out for the cameras for soundbites.

This documentary recounts the story of the Beltway Sniper or DC Sniper, John Muhammad, primarily through the memories of his estranged wife Mildred Muhammad. Muhammad killed no less than 17 people with his accomplice in 2002. It was new to me that John Muhammad was engaged in a long-standing fight with his wife Mildred to gain control over their three children, and this conflict might have pushed him to go on his killing spree. Mildred maintains that her husband was initially a normal, caring husband who somehow changed when he was a demolition expert with the US military in the first Gulf War, and that he somehow came back from Saudi-Arabia (or Saudia, as Mildred calls it) as another man from the one she'd married: "The man that I married is in Saudi-Arabia. Because the man that came back is not John". It's fascinating to learn that she suffered heavily from John Muhammad, but at the same time she places the blame exclusively on the higher powers. Apparently there was an incident with a smoke grenade during his tour of duty, which the military interpreted as a suicide attempt which endangered his comrades. Mildred is still convinced that her husband was innocent.

It's bizarre to watch how Mildred styles herself as a victim of external circumstances, and how this documentary panders to her.