Time

As I said in Welcome to Chechnya, I promised to wait until the Oscar nominations before I saw anymore potential documentary winners. Now I can start watching. I now have time for Time.

Garrett Bradley's film tells the story of a New Orleans couple, Sibil Fox Richardson (aka Fox Rich) and her husband, Robert. In 1997, they were young, in love and were completely broke. One day, Robert and his nephew held up a bank. They were arrested along with Sibil, their getaway driver. Sibil served 3 1/2 years in prison while Robert was sentenced to sixty. 

The documentary chronicles Sibil's quest to get Robert parole. She spent those twenty-one years becoming a successful entrepreneur and public speaker. She also had to raise her six sons by herself; the youngest were twins born during their mother's incarceration. They never had time to know their father growing up. Sibil lost a lot of time with her husband. But that time alone is almost up. There's a parole hearing for Robert.

It alternates between Sibil's home movies and present day footage; all rendered in black and white. We get to know her a lot during this time. She admits her guilt but admits the robbery was a stupid mistake. Her husband got the harsh sentence because of a botched plea deal. That and Jury Tampering (something neglected here); but given the details, their latter charge was their desperate mistake. We ultimately understand how disproportionate Robert's sentence is. We understand Sibil's frustration as she deals with a slow justice system. We get to see the twins, Justus and Freedom, grow up to be good men. And we feel the joy when Robert gets to walk out of prison.

I think I'm gonna see all the nominated documentaries this year. But I think I'll see one a week. Time is ready to stream for free on Amazon Prime. It's easy to find time for it as it's only 81 minutes long. So press play for a captivating true life story.