Mike McCahill 

Dinosaur 13 review – a jawbone-dropping true tale

This documentary follows US archaeologists who found a dinosaur, only to become mired in a custody battle, writes Mike McCahill
  
  

Dinosaur 13
Fulls of turns and quirks … Dinosaur 13 Photograph: pr

Todd Douglas Miller's documentary suggests a joke: heard the one about the paleontologists who dug themselves into a hole? In fact, around the time of Jurassic Park, a team of South Dakotan fossil-hunters really did find themselves in deep trouble after unearthing the remains of the largest intact T rex on privately owned land. The dinosaur (swiftly named Sue) fell victim to more recent, disputed history, and the diggers to heavy-handed government intervention. It's a jawbone-dropping tale, told crisply through talking heads, in which the process of excavation proves at least as fascinating as the fallout. If it all feels too anomalous to seal its case against today's big legal and corporate predators, it never lacks for diverting turns and quirks. There's something dorkily poignant in the way everyone – including Miller, forlornly numbering Sue's days in federal custody – insists on treating this fallen giant like any other mistreated tug-of-love child.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*