David and Me – Film Review

April 24^th, 2014:  On its surface, the kidnapping and murder of Nathan Blenner on October 20^th, 1985 in Brooklyn, New York was a tragic event.  Even more egregious was the subsequent arrest and conviction of two 16 year old juveniles, David McCallum and Willie Stuckley, whose false confessions sealed their fate.  So why is a middle class Jewish Italian kid from Toronto fighting for his exoneration?  “David & Me” is the poignant and all too vexing legal journey to find truth, seek justice and right the wrongs that have festered for 28 years.

Given the recent passing of Dr. Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, whose prominent advocacy for McCallum further validates the colour narrative of injustice that he faced and that still exists, stories like this continue to serve as a clarion call for legal change.  The eerie parallel between Klonsky and McCallum’s troubled early years becomes the binding agent from which two worlds coalesce.  McCallum’s wrongful conviction is the nexus where trial transcripts, case materials, confession footage and investigation reports all find new life.  In the era before DNA evidence and false confession analysis, Director turned investigator Ray Klonsky, together with David’s new Pro Bono Attorney Oscar Michelen, revealed a litany of short comings littered throughout his case transcripts and beyond.  Framed within the stark confines of life imprisonment, the tone Klonsky evokes throughout the narrative is still one of hope.