Back in May of 2016 when it made its international debut, I screened “OJ: Made in America” at the Toronto documentary festival, Hot Docs. I followed that up with a one-on-one with director Ezra Edelman. At the time I had no idea the film was going to go on to win 45 awards and be nominated for an Oscar. All I knew for sure was that it was a transformational piece of art. Here’s the original story.
Walking out of the theater that I’d entered during daylight well after nightfall, I tried to put into context what I’d just seen.
Was the new ESPN Film 30 for 30 “OJ: Made in America”—which I’d just sat through a marathon screening of—the best sports doc I’ve ever seen? Yes. Move over “The Two Escobars,” “The U” and “Crash Reel,” “OJ: Made in America” was now top dog.
Was it the best documentary of any kind I’d ever seen? Yes again. “OJ: Made in America” takes the conch.
A little afraid of hyperbole, I took things a step further. Was “OJ: Made in America” the best movie I’d ever seen?
This newest 30 for 30 is tough to compare to most feature-length films because of its length. The story unfolds over multiple installments—meaning binge watching is a viable option—which allows it to deep-dive on its subject in a way most documentaries can’t. However the film’s true strength lies in the way it weaves multiple stories into one. Which is why after 10 hours in a theater watching it in one sitting, my fellow viewers and I were left discussing and debating well into the night.
“OJ: Made in America” marks a new direction for the 30 for 30 brand: its first episodic series. Originally, Connor Schell, a senior VP and executive producer at ESPN Films, recruited Peabody and Emmy award-winning director Ezra Edelman to make a five-hour film on the life of OJ Simpson broken into five parts. The finished product clocks in at twice that length, and over the course of its five two-hour episodes it examines the rise and fall of the superstar running back. The series is part American history lesson, part master class in ways North American culture can create a sociopath just as easily as a saint.
Best known by sports fans for his HBO documentary “Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals,” Edelman made much more than a sports doc. OJ’s on-field accomplishments, from Heisman trophy to NFL rushing titles, are covered, and offer an excellent reminder of what a brilliant, ahead-of-his-time runner Simpson was. But football is just a footnote to the larger story of the Juice’s life and the society that shaped it.
Drawing from 72 interviews—66 of which made the film—Edelman puts forward a fresh portrayal of OJ’s story, which has already been thoroughly documented. Coming on the heels of the much talked about FX series “American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson,” Edelman’s film could been seen as unnecessary surplus. Instead the FX series serves as an appetizer for the feast that is the 30 for 30.
For me, the most compelling part of the film was the criminal and civil case reconstructions. Edelman does a masterful job showing that everything happening around the trials is as important as the action inside the courtroom when it comes to understanding the story.
Ultimately, this is not a biography of OJ Simpson. Rather it is an examination of the impossibly complex ecosystem that created him. Racial and socioeconomic divisions, celebrity, self-esteem, domestic abuse, the judicial system—all are co-stars and play their part in explaining how the Juice went from America’s favourite pitchman to the trial of the century.