LICENSED TO KILL
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
LICENSED TO KILL, not to be confused with the James Bond film called LICENCE TO KILL, is a harrowing tale of violence against gays. Documentarian Arthur Dong (COMING OUT UNDER FIRE) interviews 7 murderers inside various prisons. The film could be considered their brief autobiographies as Dong uses still photos of the murderers growing up to make them seem more like flesh-and-blood people than monsters locked behind bars.
The inmates tell their stories matter-of-factly. This casual style represents the film's single biggest downfall. Documentaries need energy, or they can become as dry as reading a dictionary. Dong's questions too often illicit little interest from the prisoners. An interviewer with a more provocative style might have gotten the prisoners to open up more emotionally. All of this notwithstanding, the film does end up exposing an important subject.
The easiest way to view problems in our society is to relegate them to the "couldn't happen here" category. When you are sure that some form of crime is being committed, but not in your neighborhood, it becomes an abstract issue that can be conveniently ignored and shelved into your tertiary memory.
The scene in LICENSED TO KILL from nearby San Jose really brought the film home for me. A gay man there was constantly being harassed by his neighbor, so the gay man set up a video camera in hopes that he could finally prove his story. As he was innocently watering his lawn, his neighbor came out spewing homophobic epithets at him and then began to beat him.
The killers in the show are of different races and from various parts of the country. The only thing they share is a hatred of gay people. Some prisoners blame their hatred on a molestation incident in childhood, but most seem proud to lay the blame on God's doorstep. They have a confused understanding of religion and have decided that, since homosexuality is immoral in their code of ethics, gay bashing and murder are almost inevitable. Most of the convicts show some remorse, but none are particularly convincing.
In one especially ironic interview, a prisoner rants and raves about the lack of religion in the schools. He attributes the decay of society to the courts outlawing Christianity in the classrooms. These diatribes come from someone who seems to have an unswerving faith in the "Nine Commandments."
In the interview with convicted murderer Jeffrey Swinford, he explains his nonchalant view of beating up gays and how his friends would make a party of it. "Like girls, you know, they would ride along," he explains. "You know, like cheerleaders -- 'Kick 'em in the head' -- stuff like that. We never done it for fun, you know. We just did it if we need money."
LICENSED TO KILL runs just 1:20. It is not rated but would be R for its troubling and explicit pictures of people who have been beaten, stabbed, or shot. Teenagers need to be mature to be able to handle the intensity of the images. I recommend the documentary to you and give it ** 1/2.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: April 12, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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