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Barbara Schroeder, Steve Clement

Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be," and while he penned those words in 1961, they seem especially apt in a time when people can easil... read more read more...y create an alternate identity for themselves in cyberspace. Director Barbara Schroeder presents a true-life story in which creating an on-line alter ego has deadly consequences in the documentary talhotblond. Thomas Montgomery, a man from upstate New York with a failing marriage and a dead-end job, found himself spending a lot of time in internet chat rooms, where he told people he was "marinesniper," a rugged eighteen-year-old serving in Iraq. "Marinesniper" began chatting with "talhotblond," an eighteen-year-old girl from West Virginia, and their relationship progressed into cybersex sessions and a proposal of marriage. Eventually, "talhotblond" discovered that "marinesniper" wasn't who he claimed to be, and to get even she began an online relationship with "beefcake," one of Montgomery's co-workers who was on his on-line friends list. In time, the interaction between these characters led to real-life jealousy that ended with gunfire and a murder trial in which the surprising secrets about each party was revealed. talhotblond received its world premiere at the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize in the Documentary competition. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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66% liked it

332 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 23 min.

Directed by: Barbara Schroeder

Release Date: February 1, 2009

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DVD Release Date: March 23, 2010

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Flixster Reviews (73)

  • lewiskendell
    February 15, 2011
    lewiskendell
    "She unleashed a fantasy online that was addictive as any drug, and as lethal as any bullet."

    Like the somewhat similar documentary Catfish, Talhotblond is a real-life story about how easy it is to hide behind a fictional identity online, and the problems that can result from su... read morech deceit.

    Talhotblond is an example of a worse case scenario of Internet deceit. A dangerous love triangle started online ends up in a murder and the destruction of several lives. Interviews from the people involved, psychiatric experts, and the law authorities who eventually became involved, paint a disturbing picture of manipulation and lies that is unfortunately all too true.

    If you're interested in the subject, check it out.
  • mattdlevy
    January 13, 2011
    mattdlevy
    Decent documentary that is works because it is disturbing. Between this and Dear Zachary (which is much, much better and even more disturbing) I and disgusted at what people are capable of
  • zardoz3
    March 24, 2010
    zardoz3
    Anybody who loves lurid, real-life homicide cases with mind boggling revelations will crave this skillfully made documentary about a cyberspace femme fatale who turned two grown men against one another. These two guys participated in Internet chat room sessions with an 18-year ol... read mored hottie. Forty-seven year old factory worker Thomas Montgomery, currently serving a 20-year stretch in Attica Correctional Facility in New York, was an unhappily married man with two daughters aged 12 and 14-years old. Montgomery was suffering from impotence when he met Jessi in an Internet chat room purely by accident. Montgomery masqueraded as an 18-year old battle scarred Marine sniper named Tommy when he learned that Jessi was a West Virginia high school senior. He fooled the poor teenager into believing that he had deep feelings of love for her. Jessi reciprocated similar feelings of affection. The web-based romance began in May 2005. Jessi sent him photos of herself in a bathing suit, videos of herself set to a ballad, red-lace panties, and a sterling silver "key to my heart" chain. Their chat sessions degenerated into pornographic prattle. Meanwhile, Montgomery's suspicious wife Cindy discovered her husband's perfidy and contacted Jessi with the truth about Montgomery. Before long Jessi hooked up with a college student named Brian. Eventually, this twisted relationship incorporated all three and Montgomery learned that Brian worked part-time at the same factory, the tool plant, Dynabrade in Clarence, New York, where he had been working for 12 years. One evening while 22-year old Brian sat in his truck in the factory parking lot, Montgomery approached the vehicle without warning and fired three shots from a .30-caliber gun into the driver's side door, killing Brian. The jealous older man was stunned when he learned the truth about sexy young Jessi and how she had lead him on in a bizarre love triangle. This is a chilling cautionary tale of what can occur when you chat will the wrong folks in cyberspace. First-time writer & director Barbara Schroeder does a splendid job of assembling the facts in a piecemeal fashion with the actual participants, including candid, on-camera interviews with convicted killer Thomas Montgomery, clinical psychologist and attorney Dr. Rex Julian Beaber, Erie County prosecutor Ken Case, Erie County Sheriff Ron Kenyon, Oak Hill, West Virginia Sgt. Lee Kirk, Tim Shieler, and the father of the Internet teen vixen. The revelations here will curl your toe-nails and make you think twice about entering an Internet chat room. Indeed, truth is again stranger than fiction! "Talhotblond" received the Best Documentary award at the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival. Incidentally, the title refers to the screen name that Jessi used in Internet chat rooms.

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