The Imposter

Playing like a psychological thriller, this compelling documentary interweaves interviews and dramatizations as it tells the almost unbelievable-but-true story of a 23-year-old French Algerian man who assumed the identity of a Texas teenager. In 1994, 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay disappeared near San Antonio. Although the Barclay family assumed that Nicholas was abducted by a stranger and killed, they lived with uncertainty until hearing—three and a half years later—that a boy had been found in Spain who claimed to be Nicholas. After clever con-man Frédéric Bourdin—who contacted U.S. police stations inquiring about missing children—learned about Nicholas, he dyed his hair blond, gave himself the same tiny tattoos described on the missing child report, and concocted a credible kidnapping story, describing how he'd been sold into an international child sex ring, where he was tortured and not allowed to speak English. The fact that he was a brown-eyed French-Algerian impersonating a blue-eyed American didn't seem to deter the Barclay family, Child Protective Services, the U.S. Embassy staff in Madrid, the news media, or the FBI. Why were family members so easily fooled? Were they perhaps responsible for Nicholas's disappearance, or worse? These are questions that intrigue grizzled Texas private detective Charlie Parker in filmmaker Bart Layton's suspenseful documentary, based on a 2008 New Yorker article by David Grann. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a “making-of” featurette (41 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a powerful documentary.] (S. Granger)