O.J.: Made in America

2016

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1
8.9| TV-MA| en| More Info
Released: 11 June 2016 Ended
Producted By: ESPN Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://espn.go.com/30for30/ojsimpsonmadeinamerica/
Info

The rise and fall of American football star, O.J. Simpson, from his days growing up in Los Angeles to his murder trial that polarized the country.

Genre

Documentary

Watch Online

O.J.: Made in America (2016) is currently not available on any services.

Director

Ezra Edelman

Production Companies

ESPN Films

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.
Watch Now
O.J.: Made in America Videos and Images
View All

O.J.: Made in America Audience Reviews

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
tomgillespie2002 On June 12th, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of lauded American football player and all-round superstar O.J. Simpson, was murdered, along with her friend Ron Goldman. Both were stabbed multiple times, with Nicole's injuries so severe that her head was almost completely severed from her body. The crime scene was appalling and was clearly the aftermath of a frenzied attack, with all evidence pointing to O.J.. What followed was truly the biggest media sensation of our time; a circus in the ugliest sense of the word which divided America between blacks and whites. The case continues to fascinate, and despite the many documentaries covering the trial, Ezra Edelman's O.J.: Made in America finds new ground to cover, interviewing practically anyone caught up in the trial and juxtaposing O.J.'s story with that of the horror of growing up black in Los Angeles.Released as a five-part mini-series on ESPN for their 30 to 30 series, Made in America also made a limited appearance on cinema screen, and received its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Controversially, this qualified it as a feature and for the Best Documentary Academy Award (which it won), and watched as a whole the film runs at a whopping 7 hours plus. But anyone who states it was undeserved needs to watch the film again, as this is about as detailed, powerful and utterly gripping as documentary film-making gets. It seems to cover just about every angle, bringing in anybody who was anybody in the events leading up to the murder and the aftermath for revealing interviews, as well as boasting a stunning collection of archive footage. It's meticulously researched stuff, and even if you know the long-studied case back to front, you will still find something new. Starting way back, we are taken through O.J.'s rise as a star college football player, leaping over or barging through anybody who stood in his way. He was worshipped almost like a God, and took this success to an unhappy period as a professional playing in Buffalo, where he was away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. We move through his tearful retirement to his move into acting, where he appeared in the likes of Capricorn One (1977) and The Naked Gun (1988), and his successful run as the face of Hertz. There's also his initially sweeping love affair with a beautiful young blonde named Nicole Brown, before the reports of domestic violence began. We witness a black man becoming a superstar in a white world that falsely preached equality, and he sat comfortably in that world while his fellow African- Americans were suffering terrible abuse at the hands of the law. Time and time again we witness a black man, woman or child murdered, beaten or treated like a dog by the police, only for them to be acquitted of the crime. Payback, it would seem, was on the cards, as the trial of O.J. Simpson began.We are left in no question as to whether or not O.J. did it. He comes across as a master manipulator, ready to throw anybody under the bus - and have them be grateful at the same time - if it will give him a foot forward. A controlling, egotistical bully who would leave visible prints of his boot on Nicole's face, he is truly the worst kind of scumbag. The outcome of the trial certainly isn't excused (the prosecutor reminds the court late on that nobody seems to remember than Nicole and Ron were the actual victims), but it goes some way to explain it. You can feel the anger brewing as the film goes on, and through some truly disturbing footage of the Rodney King beating and the murder of Latasha Harlin, makes you angry with them. It portrays an entire country divided, with the trial playing out as an obvious metaphor for a nation in complete disarray, while the disgusting flaws in the American Justice System are exposed to a bleary-eyed prosecution. It's a work of true scholarship and unyielding ambition, and a frightening indictment of just how little has changed.
paul2001sw-1 O.J. Simpson was born in unpromising circumstances, but blessed with good looks, charm, and an athletic talent, grew to become one of the most famous men in America: a genius footballer, and an African American who became popular amongst all races, though the latter in part was due to his own willingness to abandon his original racial identity. But his second marriage turned bad, his suave public image increasingly at odds with his brutal treatment of his wife; and eventually, she (and her friend, and probable lover) were murdered. O.J. was on the record as having threatened them, had no alibi, and forensic evidence pointed strongly to his guilt; when the police called him in, he went on the run in a near-suicidal state, and the police followed on the freeway, trying to talk him out of doing himself in. They succeeded in this, only for O.J. to mount an extraordinary defence, in which his lawyers effectively put the Los Angeles Police Department on trial for its long and despicable history of racism. After a trial of months, a mainly black jury took just a few hours to acquit.But ostracised by the white community in which he'd made his home, O.J. soon lost a civil suit (in a different court, with a lower standard of proof), and motivated (it seems) by his desire for adulation, he fell in with a bad crowd. The new gangsta-style O.J. was perhaps no more the real man than the all-round nice guy or the evil killer; eventually, he threatened (with menaces, and armed friends in tow) someone whom he suspected of stealing his stuff and was finally sentenced to a gaol sentence that was both excessive (in the context of his latest crime) and overdue. He remain in gaol today.The strength of 'O.J.: Made in America', a marathon documentary that retells this extraordinary story, is that it brings out every facet: his remarkable sporting talent, his plastic personality, the horror of the murders, the grim reality of being poor and black in L.A., the theatre of his arrest and trial, and the sordid nature of his eventual downfall. It's long - possibly overlong - but the title is apt: this is a story that could only have happened in the U.S.A., and it says more about the country than the lurid headlines might have suggested at the time. There's no happy ending for anyone here - but what once seemed like soap opera, now feels strangely like a portrait of a nation, and yes, a dark reflection on the American dream.
Duan If you think this will only be about the death of two white people by the hands of rich and successful black man, you will be in for a rude surprise. You are taken on a epic voyage back in time, through the great black southern migration, to the civil rights movement, how people view these epic times. How a person can come from an isolated community and be propelled into a new environment they have no prior exposure. While the documentary gives you deep exposure to the O.J. Simpson case, some people will say that this documentary will convince you that he committed the horrid murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman - I still have two questions - how did a person kill two people this violently and only have traces of blood on them and no bloody clothes; how in the hell was he able to pull this off within 45 minutes and catch a plane? I have more questions than ever. But, the best thing to do before you watch this documentary. Sit down, relax, open you eyes, let your curiosity take hold and go where the filmmakers take you.
neil-swift-23453 Well is it the final chapter? I seriously doubt it. We all must have seen numerous documentaries about OJ and what happened or didn't happen and we all have our own version of what we think happened. Some older people (like me) may remember watching this as it happened and some may have caught up after the fact but it's still a fascinating watch.This is as comprehensive as it gets, and at seven and a half hours does cover it very comprehensively. I did it in three instalments and never got bored on any occasion. It was factual, with actual footage of the trail, and is updated with commentary provided by many who were involved.I'm not gonna take sides and slam or praise anyone but be assured, you will. No matter how you think things went down you will have a good guy and bad guy scenario and like me you will become a little louder than normal.Well worth a watch even though it takes a while.