It’s not always easy to find a good true crime documentary to watch. I’ll watch at least three a week. Too many times I’ll spend a few minutes searching only to settle for whatever series I’m also putting on in the background during work.
My enjoyment of true crime documentaries on a near-daily basis is what led me to create this blog. Unfortunately, not every one I have to watch is a pleasure. Sometimes there are some absolute duds.
In the case of these three true crime documentaries, I wouldn’t call them duds as much as I would throw out the phrase overrated. They were acceptable. They just weren’t as memorable as other critics made them out to be.
1) The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst is all about one moment
Until we get to Robert Durst’s infamous Naked Gun-style confession with a microphone on in the bathroom, The Jinx is kind of boring. It’s way too long of a story. This should have been over in four parts, not six. If not for the confession from Durst, The Jinx wouldn’t have been so memorable.
2) The Tinder Swindler is completely forgettable
Speaking of memorable, does anyone recall something specific from The Tinder Swindler? I don’t even remember the guy’s face and I have a thing with remembering faces. For some reason, this one struck a chord with a lot of people. It seemed too similar to every other documentary about fraudsters. None of the people featured in this film were memorable, not even the villain.
3) American Murder: The Family Next Door has a unique style but lacks substance
I did like American Murder: The Family Next Door. The way they made an entire film using social media and police recordings was groundbreaking. Unfortunately, this also took away from a lot of the best substance a true crime documentary needs. Not much new was offered from the footage or recordings. And because this was already a well-known case, nothing new was really learned.
Practically Trouble 
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