Bill Cosby: Walking Free (2022) Poster

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5/10
Padded documentary should have been about 30 minutes shorter
On_The_Mark7 April 2022
It's not bad overall however it comes in at 1 hour and 18 minutes and it should have been about 45 minutes.

We get so much padding. Long shots of Bill walking by the courthouse. There's lots of this. We have to see every statement by the victims. Terrible incident but is it necessary to see everything?

There are absolutely pointless images. They're talking about Bill going to the store and we see old black and white film of African Americans in a store. They talk about his mom being a maid and we see old footage of a black maid (not his mom) and his dad was in the navy and the same type of footage. It's almost insulting. If you don't have actual footage of what you're talking about don't just show random black people in its place. There are pointless shots while narration goes on - we see a lot of an eyeball - I don't get that one. Lots of shots of pills being manufactured and multiple other annoying shots that don't fit the narration. Tons of padding here.

The thing is called "Walking free" and his walking free doesn't even happen until the last four minutes of the documentary. There really isn't anything about the backlash of his going free. They show his attorneys claiming he's been vindicated (he wasn't, he got off on a technicality). We do get one person pointing out the victims weren't proven false and that again, Cosby just got off on a technicality. You get the sense the makers are on Cosby's side or at least that's what I got but there's no question he was guilty. He was found guilty and that will be documented forever.

I think this is a good story that needs to be told, I hope a better documentary comes along to tell it.
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4/10
Hey Hey Hey! It Ain't That Funny!
borhank12 February 2024
I just finished this sad documentary that we watch the rise and fall of America's dad in the 70s and 80s.

The doco starts with Bill's childhood and family upbringing and tells us how he got to the highest of highs and this goes for fourty minutes and then we start on the decline of Bill Cosy that gets started in 2005 and goes for 14 years to get justice for over 60 women that where abused by this man.

I feel men like this its more about power and control over the sexual act. It's amazing how many people in the celebrity circle that came out in support of Bill Cosby and then when they saw the writing on the wall it was taken away quicker than anything you have ever seen.

In saying all this you cannot deny the positive effect that The Cosby Sjow had on families and individuals to strive to be a better person although the person behind the scenes was not the Stand Up guy that he was supposed to be.

However give The Cosby Show credit for the other actors that acted in it like Malcolm and Lisa and many others because the message of the show is greater than one sick old man.

So much potential but Bill killed his own power its like someone has been given a super power and decided to use his powers for evil.
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2/10
Lousy documentary is also lazy.
travinitrav18 April 2023
There's a whole lot of quick shots that don't mean anything and add nothing to the narrative. We also see a lot of long shots which also don't add anything and feel like padding. Doesn't feel like the crew did much research except read and recite Wikipedia, and maybe watch some news.

There a much better documentary called "We Need To Talk About Cosby" which goes in depth on his entire life, good, bad, and crazy. They have excellent interviews with a wide variety of people who knew him personally and professionally, and compare his career to other entertainers and black American icons, as well as his direct affect on American society as a whole.

This one is a waste of time and can be skipped, even for people who need to watch everything about Cosby.
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