JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY is a moving and competently made documentary about the journalist captured in Syria and executed by ISIS - the first American victim of the terrorist group. The strength of the film is to take us into the emotional landscape of his family for two hours so that when we finally get the moment of his death - now so iconic - we really feel the tragedy of losing a good and beloved man. The emotional punch in undeniable. The downside of focussing so much on his wonderful family is that we almost become too reverential of James and too narrow in our focus. Questions of naivety and poor decision making are picked up but quickly brushed off. And the thorny issue of why some governments choose to successfully negotiate for their captives release and others do not - allegations of a lack of US governmental support - are not properly investigated. In other words, this is a great documentary if you want to get to know James Foley - and it's worthwhile just on that basis - but it's not totally satisfying.
