Blue Caprice

In 2002, Washington, D.C., and neighboring sections of Virginia were terrorized by a series of shootings that left 10 people dead and three wounded. Police eventually apprehended John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, who were dubbed the Beltway Snipers by the media. The pair left a series of cryptic and taunting messages for the police, which gave their crimes the aura of a serial killing spree. Alexandre Moors' feature dramatizes the circumstances that brought the two together and launched them on their vicious odyssey. Muhammad (played with ferocious intensity by Isaiah Washington) was an ex-convict obsessed with killing his estranged wife. Malvo (Tequan Richmond) was an emotionally needy minor who latched himself on to Muhammad, viewing the older man as a father figure (Muhammad was denied access to his children via his wife's restraining order). At one point, Muhammad punishes Malvo for perceived bad behavior by tying him to a tree in a forest and leaving him alone for an extended period. Tim Blake Nelson and Joey Lauren Adams turn up in showy supporting roles as the ammunition suppliers that provide the weapons used in the shootings. Although the film significantly downplays the racial elements of the shootings—back in 2002, the police initially believed the crimes were being committed by a single white man instead of two African Americans—it nonetheless compellingly captures the fury of Muhammad and Malvo and the sense of confusion and fear their actions created. Recommended. (P. Hall)