The Thin Blue Line

"Erases the border between art and activism."

1988 1h 43m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 427🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes●79Metacritic★7.9IMDB · 27,169

CrimeDocumentary

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

One night in November 1976, after his car breaks down on a road outside Dallas, Randall Dale Adams accepts a ride from teenager David Harris. Harris is driving a stolen vehicle and, later that night, when Dallas police officer Robert Wood pulls the car over to check its headlights, he is shot and killed. A jury believes Adams is the killer, but stylized reenactments and interviews with key figures, conflicting testimonies and evidence are presented to argue that Adams was framed by a corrupt justice system, ultimately leading to his exoneration.

“Erases the border between art and activism.”

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Cast

Randall Adams
Self
David Harris
Self
Gus Rose
Self - Homicide Detective in Dallas
Jackie Johnson
Self - Homicide Detective in Dallas
Marshall Touchton
Self - Homicide Detective in Dallas
Dale Holt
Self - Internal Affairs Investigator in Dallas
Sam Kittrell
Self - Police Detective in Vidor
Hootie Nelson
Self - Friend of David Harris in Vidor

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Errol Morris
Writers: Errol Morris
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 6

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Errol Morris, shot by Robert Chappell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Paul Barnes shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 6

CAST

Did you know

Randall Adams and David Harris and Gus Rose carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 6

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Erases the border between art and activism.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 6

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0096257 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Errol Morris directs. Robert Chappell behind the camera. Paul Barnes cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

138 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Errol Morris, shot by Robert Chappell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Editor Paul Barnes shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
4Randall Adams and David Harris and Gus Rose carry the top of the cast.
5Marketing tagline: "Erases the border between art and activism.".
6IMDB entry: tt0096257 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Classified under 9 themes, including "death penalty", "texas", "investigation", "dallas, texas".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Chappell
Editing: Paul Barnes
Production design: Ted Bafaloukos
Makeup / hair: Theo Mayes
Sound: Jack Leahy
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $1,209,846
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 79/100
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 27,169 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

12 wins & 5 nominations total

Also by

Errol Morris

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb766221952023-09-29
★ 10/10
In November 1976 in Dallas, Texas, Police Officer Robert Wood was shot and killed while making an otherwise routine traffic stop. One man was arrested and sentenced to death for the crime, based on the testimony of a sixteen year old acquaintance. These basic facts are covered in one of the most brilliant films to come out of the 1980's. Randall Adams was no drifter. He was moving from Ohio and was staying in Dallas with his brother. He found a good job, and planned on living there a while. Then he met David Harris, a punk from a Klan-infested small town in southern Texas. The officer is murdered, and Harris blames Adams, even though Harris gloated about shooting the young cop to his friends. Adams was railroaded into prison while Harris embarked on a petty crime spree. He continued his misdemeanor ways until he actually killed a man during a botched kidnapping. Now Harris was in jail, and Adams was still appealing his conviction. Witnesses came forward claiming to have seen Adams shoot Wood, yet none of them have a gleam of credibility. Finally, Adams gets some decent lawyers, who begin working to get him out. He is granted an appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court, but as of the making of the film, he was still serving life in prison. A little research shows what happened to Randall Adams. Errol Morris goes where few documentary makers go. He films convincing reenactments of the crime. These are not "Unsolved Mysteries"-type reenactments, Morris has a real director's eye, and gives the audience every detail needed- from a tossed milkshake to the number of people spotted in the killer's car. Philip Glass adds a haunting musical score that gets under your skin and hypnotizes you. The convict Adams is a sincere man, and the film makers are obviously rooting for his cause. Harris is an ignorant punk, enjoying playing games with people's lives. If the Dallas County prosecutors had done their job, Harris would not have committed his second murder: food for thought. Harris' final interview, done on audio cassette, is chilling, and will make a believer of anyone who otherwise thought "this could never happen to me." The three "witnesses" to the slaying are a joke, two in it for the reward, and a salesman who boasts of his photographic memory but cannot recall if Wood's patrol car was in front of or behind Harris' stolen vehicle. "The Thin Blue Line" is more than talking heads, this is a searing story that puts to shame any fiction that tries to cover the same ground. For this kind of thing to happen to an innocent man, it is also very scary.

Production companies