Sundance review: In 'Justice,' filmmakers dig up more about Brett Kavanaugh than the FBI did
Director Doug Liman knows what makes a thriller work — he is the guy who made “The Bourne Identity,” after all — and he applies that sense of white-knuckle pacing to his first documentary, “Justice.”
There’s also a righteous anger bubbling through the film, which examines the allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh when he was being considered for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court — and how much effort went into burying or ignoring the growing evidence.
Part of the story you know. That’s the story of Christine Blasey Ford, the California academic who reluctantly came forward with an accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982, when they were high school students in Maryland. Ford is seen almost entirely during her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Lesser known, but still commented on at the time, was the story of Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh’s who also recounted an instance of sexual misconduct. Liman and writer-producer Amy Herdy interview Ramirez here, and her account has not lost any of its devastating sting.
Much of what’s new information in “Justice” involves the FBI investigation the Senate committee requested when the Ford and Ramirez accusations looked like they might topple Kavanaugh’s nomination. Liman and Herdy argue, rather convincingly, that the FBI ignored or buried evidence of more sexual misconduct allegations — including one bit of testimony the filmmakers got their hands on that seems particularly damning.
Herdy worked on films by documentarian Kirby Dick — such as “The Killing Ground,” about sexual assault on college campuses — and there’s a similarity in this movie’s pace. Liman comes from a lawyerly family (his brother Lewis is a federal judge in New York, and his father Arthur Liman was chief counsel on the committee that investigated the Iran-Contra scandal), and he lays out the case like a good prosecutor.
The odd thing about “Justice” is that the version shown at Sundance in its only screening likely won’t be the one mainstream audiences eventually get to see. The filmmakers announced that they have been receiving more tips, right after Sundance announced the film as a last-minute entry. Depending on what Liman and Herdy find next, “Justice” may never be truly done.
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‘Justice’
★★★1/2
Playing in the Special Screenings section of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. No other festival screenings have been scheduled. Not rated, but probably PG-13 for verbal descriptions of sexual misconduct. Running time: 85 minutes.