CITIZEN McCAW: MUST SEE FILM OF THE YEAR!

As was the case with many in Santa Barbara, I was eagerly awaiting the premiere of the sold out CITIZEN McCAW at the 2000 seat Arlington on Friday evening. Sitting in the theater amongst the many brave folks who had either quit or been fired from the Santa Barbara News-Press, I have to admit that I had a few butterflies. Would this film live up to expectations? Would the crowd leave that theater with a sense of -- if not closure -- at least satisfaction.

Well, I certainly had no reason to worry, because the movie is great by any standard. And I have to admit that I'm even a little jealous ... As someone who dabbles in filmmaking myself, I remember telling anyone who would listen that the News-Press meltdown would (if done right) make for an outstanding documentary. Lack of resources in conjunction with my fear of Wendy's lawyers made me drop that idea faster than people drop their NP subscriptions. It only took about 5 minutes into CITIZEN McCAW, however, for me to realize that the right people took on this important subject and did it with true care and professionalism.

Instead of attempting to write some sort of review or critique of the film, I thought it would be more fun to simply give you a few insights from a group of friends just chatting about it. After the the documentary ended, I went out for a couple drinks with fellow bloggers I'M NOT ONE TO BLOG, BUT... , Big Table, COOKIESINHEAVEN, and one former News-Press employee. Here are few of the highlights from our discussion ...

BIAS - There did seem to be a little disagreement amongst the group as to whether or not the film was 100% successful in not making it appear completely anti-Wendy. As director Sam Tyler emphasized in the post-film Q&A, every attempt was made to get the major NP players on camera to tell their side. Since Wendy and company would have none of that, the filmmakers were forced drop in written quotes from Ms. McCaw and others where appropriate. The comment was made that, if the film is going to play outside of the Santa Barbara area, it will need to be tweaked some to make Wendy come off a little less unlikable. Personally, I don't feel that way. It seems to me that the quotes from Wendy sound completely absurd only because we all know her and know the story. But someone in Iowa, for example, won't see it that way. In my opinion, you simply can't make a documentary about this subject without Wendy smelling bad.

THE FUNNY - I made the observation that the film would not have worked nearly as well without the Santa Barbara Independent's Nick Welsh. A good documentary needs to cover all the emotions, and Mr. Welsh was pretty much all the funny in this one. I've never seen Nick speak before, but I felt he was really impressive here. He came across to me as natural and charismatic without a hint of nervousness. And all the laugh-out-loud lines came from his lips. Everyone seemed to be in agreement on this point, although some felt that his stuff might have to be reigned in a bit for a global audience.

ANYTHING WE DIDN'T LIKE? - At the expense of hurting someone's feelings, the general consensus in the group was that the illustrations didn't work. They weren't bad in maybe another context, but for the purposes of this movie, they looked too comical in what should have been serious situations. They made you chuckle at inappropriate moments and briefly took you out of the film.

BLOGS - I just can't write about CITIZEN McCAW without giving a little shout-out to our little blog. There is a section in the movie where they talk about how the News-Press mess triggered interest in many new on-line publications and blogs in the Santa Barbara area; the best example being Craig Smith. But imagine my surprise when The Average Man itself actually popped-up along side the likes of edhat and BlogaBarbara as examples of this phenomenon! Made my day, I have to tell ya.

GENERAL FEELINGS - Everyone at the table felt the movie was outstanding on the whole. And to be honest, this group (myself very much included) can be quite opinionated. So, I think it's a tribute to the creators that we couldn't find a whole heck of a lot of bad things to say. As Sam Tyler said in the Q&A, it's a tough thing to keep an audience's attention for 90 minutes. But the pacing here is spot on, and I think it will very much work outside of our little community. The comment was made that this is a movie you really don't want to screw up due to the high level of emotion by so many affected by Wendy's actions. So, bravo to Mr. Tyler and his team for pulling it off.

It will be interesting to see where the documentary goes from here. There was talk of it possibly playing on PBS or HBO. And it might even make a theater run. Let's hope everyone in the world gets a chance to see it!

If you missed the show on Friday, two additional screenings have been added at the beautiful Marjorie Luke Theatre located at 721 E. Cota Street in Santa Barbara: Saturday, April 5th at 8PM and Sunday, April 6th at 3PM.