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Review: Well-intentioned doc ‘They Call Us Monsters’ looks at juvenile justice

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Is a crime committed as a youth a sign of bad things to come, and to be treated as such, or an occasion for judicial compassion? Ben Lear’s sympathetic documentary “They Call Us Monsters” goes inside a Sylmar facility for holding violent juveniles and trains a camera on three incarcerated teenagers facing various murder and attempted murder convictions that could land them in prison for life. (In California, juveniles between 14 and 17 can be tried as adults.)

But while we’re primed to see a complicated picture of the criminal justice system as it applies (or misapplies) to a handful of unformed adolescents, what’s mostly on tap is the filming of a 20-week screenwriting course for the trio, led by Gabe Cowan, that doubles as a therapy session for the filmmakers’ purposes (and a back-patting exercise).

That means one extra idea is tossed into the film — art versus reality when telling one’s story — which yields little that’s interesting from the subjects (pot, sex and violence animate the teens’ imaginations) and ultimately dissipates the impact of an otherwise conscientious doc.

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The few times the filmmakers dive into the inmates’ stories away from the prison — interviewing family members, attending their trials — and we’re forced to wonder about their innocence or guilt, things get even murkier. There’s little doubt prison reform needs to address the severe effects of locking up kids for life, but “They Call Us Monsters” feels like a well-meaning skim rather than an impassioned, expertly reasoned plea for mercy.

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‘They Call Us Monsters’

Running time: 1 hour, 22 minutes

Not rated

Playing: Laemmle Royal, West L.A.

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