It is really difficult to look away from this haunting movie. Like an auto accident, you cringe but stare nonetheless. Ironically, this film is just that. An auto accident. And you can't stop peering at the mental carnage that resulted from this insane tragedy.
For those not in the know, Diane Shuler (shown above with her husband Danny) was driving a Ford mini-van loaded down with her two kids and three nieces. On their way home from a camping trip in upstate New York, Diane somehow took a wrong turn and wound up driving full speed in the wrong direction on the Taconic State Parkway near Briarcliff Manor. For an amazing and fateful 1.7 miles.
After a head-on collision, Diane was killed. So was her daughter. So were the the three nieces. So were three older gentlemen in another doomed car. The sole survivor was Diane's young son, who suffers with brain-related vision problems to this day. The final body count is eight. Words can't describe the horror. Yet, this is only the beginning of the film.
Five days after the crash and hours after a mass funeral, the autopsy report comes back on Diane Shuler. It seems the toxicology report on her blood system showed that she was legally drunk. And high on marijuana.
What??? Her family was aghast. Diane didn't drink. She didn't do drugs. And certainly not with kids in the car. This can't be true.
The rest of the film is devoted to the family's unceasing desire to figure out what really happened on that July 2009 day. Surveillance video of Diane's stop at a rest area is examined frame by frame. She buys nothing there, but takes a moment to ask the attendant if they carried any pain relievers. She had complained of a toothache for months. Could that pain have caused a stroke that prompted the erratic driving behavior? Her relatives grasp at one straw after another.
The family's first mistake is displayed immediately. They engage the legal services of Long Island lawyer Dominic Barbara. Most New Yorkers will recognize him not as an attorney, but a recurring character on the Howard Stern Show. The fact that they hired this buffoon for such important counsel raises eyebrows on the family's focus from the get-go. And, as the film unspools, the absolute denials regarding Diane's alleged drug and alcohol use become less emphatic. Oh, sure, she smoked a little. Oh, sure, she drank a little. But, never with kids in a car!
The mystery deepens with every frame of the movie. The family is desperate to clear her name, but, with every piece of semi-evidence, their confusion grows even more. They knew Diane. Or did they? Extensive interviews with her friends reveal a multi-layered, yet essentially unknown individual. Diane had several girlfriends, but relations had grown strained. She hadn't spoken to her own estranged mother since she was 9. At every turn, there's another psuedo-answer. And another five or six more questions.
Filmmaker Liz Garbus ultimately offers no answers to the tragedy. At the end of ninety minutes, you've learned a lot. And really nothing. The family finally comes to grips with the thought that Diane Shuler will never be completely in the clear for what happened that day. Or will they? You have the sense that, after a respite, they will keep hunting for the answer that they crave. It was a stroke resulting from a toothache. Or a migraine that impaired her vision. The only hope they have comes from the recording of a cell phone call from one of the young nieces in the car, whose piercing cry is heard via voice mail in the film.
"There's something wrong with Aunt Diane!"
Clearly. But what????
Dinner last night: Hickory burger at Houston's.
3 comments:
Didn't the cops find a vodka bottle in the car?
I live in Floral Park, where the Hance family is from. The sadness and grief at the funerals was unreal. Unfortunately, we've had an incredibly high number of young people die in the last few years, mostly via accidents like this.
What HBO apparently didn't show was that the lawsuits are starting to fly. The widowed spouse is suing his brother-in-law and NY State; the brother-in-law is suing back. The family of the third party (the guy from Yonkers who was killed when the van hit his car) is, I believe, also suing. What any of these people will accomplish, aside from making their lawyers rich (astute reading on Dominic Barbara, BTW), is beyond me.
Just incredibly sad
Re: the vodka bottle. It is mentioned but also mysteriously dropped from discussion. Apparently, they always kept one in the car when camping. But, the obvious question of whether the bottle seal was broken is never addressed. A small misstep from the filmmaker.
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