A Broken System, Partisan Politics, and A Everyday Need add up to The End of The Line

INDIE MOVIE REVIEW - WRITTEN BY JOE COMPTON

END OF THE LINE 

(DOCUMENTARY)

Filmmaker Emmett Adler examines the decaying infrastructure of New York City's subway system and the effects it has on business owners and residents caught in the middle.

Director: Emmett Adler

WHAT THIS DOCUMENTARY DOES WELL: The narrative captured here is so well defined and so readily clear it feels like a well written newspaper article come to life. Now that being said, some "Newspaper" articles can be drier than others but what director Emmett Adler is able to do is weave in and out of all the parties involved and give you a grander scope of this one issue. Thus never feeling dry. 

While the New York system is a focal point, this is easily relatable to anywhere where mass train transit exists, so there is a great global feel to it. The politics do have some lean here and there is a lot of uncertainty spread, that can bog this down for a little bit, but if you hang around you are in for a compelling 3rd act. 

One in which you really see what Emmett's talented editing prowess can produce. In lesser hands this expose documentary could have had a much harsher tone, a much more pessimistic doom layering that I think would have really bogged this down to a tough film to watch. However in Adler's careful hands he is able to weave through that possible sludge and find a real sense of care and duality that I think is a far more compelling approach and it makes for a Documentary that leaves you something rather than preaches something to you. 

WHY CHAMPION THIS DOCUMENTARY: This seismic problem is not going away, whether there was a documentary about it or not. Infrastructure has compelling narratives to tell and I think if we embrace something like this issue and give it the just do it deserves to be talked about maybe we can all find a way to the center again and not be so polarized. I think Emmett's documentary is a great place to start for that. It's a nice quick watch and I think it would hard pressed for anyone to not walk away from this questioning or asking something.         

YOU CAN WATCH IT ON AMAZON PRIME HERE