It’s been documented before on the show that I am a documentary junkie. I can’t get enough of them. So when I see new ones pop up places, I gobble them down like Pac-Man. Netflix’s newest short documentary Long Shot held up to my standards and did not disappoint. But when your elements include murder, baseball and Larry David how can you go wrong?

Long Shot tells the story of Juan Catalan who was arrested and sent to jail for the murder of a teenager in California. Juan insists throughout his booking process that he didn’t commit this murder. That he’s not that type of person. Once details start to come out, Juan realizes his can prove he didn’t do it because he was at a baseball game that night. But are the television and stadium camera enough to find this needle in a haystack of 40,000 people? When those start to fall through, Juan remembers that something else was being filmed at the stadium that night; a tv show or something. Enter everyone’s favorite crotchety man, Larry David. With the random footage from the show, they have to be able to get Juan home, right? But the prosecutor has never lost a case…ever. And she especially likes to push for the death penalty when possible.

All of these pieces coming together and falling apart in only a 40 minute movie make a great set up for a documentary. I was pulled in to this movie from the trailer alone and all I wanted to do was find out more. The style is done really well mixing current interviews, court room tapes, and all the recording footage from the stadium. My favorite part was actually the juxtaposition of them describing what was going on during the final moments of the baseball game against the final moments of the murdered teenager’s life. Extremely well done. The film was a nominee at the Tribeca Film Festival this year and I can tell why. I actually think it could have been longer and stretched out a little more. We got all the information but a think a little more suspense would have helped. Even with that, I would still recommend this movie to people. Especially fans of “Making a Murderer” and “Law & Order” would especially love how well this film is done.

8 curveballs out of 10

-Craig