PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 30, 2021
Netflix art heist doc needs focus
Review
By TJ REID
For the Keizertimes
One thing that I’ve always appreciated
about streaming services is that they give
film and television makers an unprece-
dented level of creative control that might
not be possible through more “traditional”
means. Free of outside pressures such as
strict rating guidelines, the need to attract
advertisers, and time constraints, plat-
forms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon
Prime can sometimes allow artists to
refine their visions from what might have
been a crude sketch to a full blown mural.
The looser restrictions can also be a
detriment, however, as some creators don’t
seem to understand that less is sometimes
more. I have often found this to be the case
amongst the most unlikely of entertain-
ers: documentarians. This is a Robbery:
The World’s Biggest Art Heist, is one such
documentary that could have greatly ben-
efited from firmer studio control. There are
many good things about it, from the visu-
als to the overall story, but the fact remains
that it is was just too long and went on far
too many unnecessary tangents to keep
my attention.
Visually, This is a Robbery hits all the
right notes for me. The reenactments are
understated and accompany voiceovers
instead of attempting to tell the story by
themselves, the still shots of the crime’s
aftermath are fascinating, and there is
always something nice to look at. The
story was one that intrigued me, as I have
never heard of the 1990 robbery of Boston’s
Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, and
includes a huge cast of interesting, real-life
characters that range from stoner security
guards to museum curators to mobsters. I
was also a fan of the music, although there
is no denying that it was occasionally too
loud and even got obnoxious once or twice.
All of the right pieces for a great documen-
tary are there.
But just because you have the option
to make your documentary four hours
long doesn’t mean you have to make your
documentary four hours long. The four
hour-long episode format is, thankfully, a
break from Netflix’s usual six hour-long
episode structure, which means This is
a Robbery doesn’t drag as much as other
recent offerings from this particular ser-
vice, which is nice. But drag it still does,
particularly when the show starts to focus
more on the mob (which includes many
primary suspects) and less on the titular
crime itself. The creators also seemed to
feel the need to interview everyone they
could point a camera at, as some of the
talking heads felt completely unnecessary.
The documentary repeats ideas constantly
as well, as if the audience is made up of
particularly forgetful goldfish. Needless to
say, less would have been more in this case.
At the end of the day, This is a Robbery is
brainfood ANSWERS
sudoku
crossword
still a very interesting and competently
made documentary. It just also happened
to cross the thin line between being thor-
ough and being a little too bloated for its
own good. Ultimately, I do not feel like my
time has been stolen, if you’ll forgive the
pun.
This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest
Art Heist is now available on Netflix.
Around
Oregon
Oregon adds
House seat
Oregon's population grew by roughly
10% in the last decade and will gain a seat
in the U.S. House of Representatives.
According to data released by the
U.S. Census Bureau, the Beaver State
grew from 3.8 million residents to 4.2
million residents. Adding a seat in the
House will bring the state's tally to six.
Some other states will be losing repre-
sentation to make up for those gaining
seats. There are 435 available seats in
the House of Representatives.
A new district is most likely to be
carved out of the Portland area, which
has the most population density in
the state. The decision where to place
the new district will be the role of a
Legislative redistricting committee,
which will also be redrawing state repre-
sentation lines.
Once the three maps are redrawn,
state lawmakers must vote to approve
them and the governor has to sign off
on the maps as well. Gov. Kate Brown
has the right to veto any line drawn. If
lawmakers fail to redraw the three maps,
the secretary of state steps in.
