The Interrupters

Movie: The Interrupters

Genre: documentary

Synopsis: Violence Interrupters is the name of a Chicago organization.  In the 1990’s violence was running rampant in many areas of Chicago.  Violence Interrupters was formed in an effort to reduce this violence.  The idea is to recruit former gang members who have reformed and turned their lives around.  These men and

women meet with current gang members to try and get them to realize that they have it within their power to stop the cycle of violence.  They also meet with victim’s families to help them.  The program has shown considerable success.  The movie covers a single year and focuses on three members of the Violence Interrupters.

My two cents: I found this movie to be pretty interesting. The amount of violence going on in Chicago was pretty amazing – one single day saw 16 shootings.  The whole idea was intriguing.  Since most of the members of this group are themselves former gang members, they are not easily intimidated by the gang members they work with. The movie did seem to plod along, though.  While I am glad I saw it and learned a lot, the 125 minutes of the movie seemed to drag on and on.

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