77 Minutes (2016)

On July 18, 1984, a man walked into a McDonald’s restaurant with three firearms. For 77 minutes, he shot at customers and people outside before being killed by a SWAT sniper. 21 people died and 19 others were wounded by the gunman.

The 2016 documentary, 77 Minutes, provides a grueling account of the events leading up to, during, and after the mass shooting. Director Charlie Minn interviews survivors, law enforcement officers, and relatives of those involved in what has become known as the San Ysidro McDonald’s Massacre.

At first, 77 Minutes appears to be a standard true crime documentary. Minn follows the course of events in a linear fashion. He intercuts news footage of the day with the interviews and sticks to the timeline. Once the interviewees get to the events after the shooting, the film abruptly takes a decidedly biased turn.

In 1984, mass shooting events were relatively uncommon. Various environmental challenges hampered the police response in San Ysidro. For example, the tinted glass of the restaurant made it hard to see inside. When the windows splintered due to gunfire, rather than breaking, it further hampered visibility. Since the day of the shooting, the local police and SWAT teams have modified their active shooter training. We learn these facts through Minn’s interviews. They learned it when their tactics failed to save more lives.

Yet, Minn berates the members of law enforcement on duty that day for mistakes made in handling the shooting. He asks Jerry Sanders, the SWAT commander, questions like, “Do you feel you got away with something?” Even though it’s apparent (and openly admitted) that mistakes were made, Minn feels the need to accuse those trying to contain the situation of doing something wrong. Since no one barged into the restaurant with guns blazing, Minn believes the situation was mishandled. And he’s not shy about expressing his opinion.

Minn even claims to take the high road because he never names the man responsible for the massacre. Admirably, he doesn’t want to give the shooter any publicity for his crimes. His righteousness vaporizes, though, as he includes uncensored crime scene footage of the shooting. The police, who filmed the aftermath, linger over each body as they attempt to identify each of the victims. Those victims include children, including an 8-month-old infant. Minn’s repeated use of the gruesome footage to make his points about failed police response is abhorrent.

77 Minutes makes good as an attempt to focus the attention on the victims and survivors rather than the killer. The interviews with the survivors paint a horrific picture of not only the events of the day but the trauma of living with the memories. But the director’s fixation on crucifying law enforcement along with the lurid crime scene video overshadows any positives the film meagerly offers.