NR | 1h 38min | Documentary, Biography, Crime | Dec. 1, 2021 (USA)
On paper, the HBO documentary “Adrienne” shouldn’t work. It was made by someone (Andy Ostroy) who isn’t a filmmaker about another (Adrienne Shelly) who was, albeit not for very long.
Unlike almost all documentarians, Ostroy is a principal participant in the story of his subject and never once attempts to appear unbiased or emotionally detached. Had he done otherwise this film would have played out like a contemptible and ghoulish cash-in.
On Nov. 1, 2006, Ostroy discovered the dead body of his wife Adrienne Shelly in her New York office, a death the NYPD quickly determined to be a suicide by hanging. Thoroughly convinced Shelly did not kill herself, Ostroy pressed the police into investigating further and within a week, her death was ruled a homicide by strangulation and not long after a suspect was apprehended….