Lucid look at 'West Memphis 3'

For fans of the

Paradise Lost

movies - Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's shattering documentaries about gruesome child murders in West Memphis, Ark., and the three teenagers who were railroaded into being convicted of the crimes - news that Peter Jackson was producing a documentary of his own was bizarre. What's Mr.

Lord of the Rings

doing big-footing a story Berlinger and Sinofsky have already, heroically, brought to public attention and outrage?

Thankfully, Jackson has used his powers for good with West of Memphis, which he produced with one of the "West Memphis Three," Damien Echols. It provides a clear, concise recap of a case that began with the 1993 murders of three 8-year-old boys who were found naked and hog-tied in a ditch near their homes. Because of injuries to their bodies, the police immediately suspected cult involvement and homed in on Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, and especially Echols for his love of heavy metal music, black clothing, and nonconformist demeanor.

With only a rambling, inconsistent confession from the developmentally challenged Misskelley and no physical evidence, a jury found the young men guilty, and Echols was sentenced to death. When Berlinger and Sinofsky's first Paradise Lost film came out in 1996, it was clear a grave miscarriage of justice had led to the conviction, and the West Memphis Three became a cause for grass-roots activists and such celebrities as Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, Patti Smith, and Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines.

All of that is summarized in West of Memphis, which pays due homage to its predecessors in bringing the case to light and keeping the fire burning. But the film also uncovers its own forensic and DNA evidence, thanks to investigators that Jackson and his partner, Fran Walsh, paid for.

West of Memphis goes from primer to procedural as a seasoned FBI profiler, veteran pathologists, and even a turtle expert come into play in debunking the State of Arkansas' case against Baldwin, Misskelley, and Echols.

These inquiries lead to a new suspect in the case, throwing into stark relief the kind of misconduct, incompetence, and social hysteria that produce too many false convictions of the poor and disenfranchised. (As Echols says in the film, "This case is nothing out of the ordinary. This happens all the time.") But director Amy Berg has a keen eye for emotional detail as well, especially when some of the victims' parents begin to change their minds about the case.

West of Memphis makes a lucid, absorbing contribution to an epic that Berlinger and Sinofsky first wrestled into an 18-year-long narrative that changed two lives and saved one.

And it gives that epic an ending that's happy, sad, inspiring, infuriating, right, and terribly wrong, all at the same time.

Directed by Amy Berg. With Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, and Damien Echols. Distributed by Sony Picture Classics.

Running time: 2 hours, 27 mins.

Parent's guide: R (disturbing, violent content and profanity).

Playing at: Ritz Bourse.EndText