D.B. Cooper: Where Are You? review: A fun, comprehensive take on the fandom of the outrageous skyjacking incident

3.5/5

Context:

Post-World War II America, in particular, has been the playground for some of the most high-profile, flagrant crimes of recent history. Carried out by agencies or individuals that can be termed "masterminds" of the diabolical kind, the fact that many of these crimes remain unsolved has only perpetuated the aura and mystique around them. The Zodiac Killer mystery which remains unsolved, the chilling assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, or the most daring escape from the prison of Alcatraz - each of these real-life incidents, and many more, have allowed for folk legends and urban mythology to take a life of their own. In the same vein comes the D.B. Cooper case which, despite having occurred more than five decades ago, remains the most alluring of all for the same simple reason: the perpetrator is still potentially at large. The fact that an unassuming man, carrying the pseudonym of D.B. Cooper, hijacked a Boeing 747 aircraft without many ordeals, ransomed the passengers for $200,000, and used a parachute to later leap into freedom and eternal anonymity is still as baffling as ever: the incident also gains traction through the decades as the only unsolved skyjacking case in the history of United States of America, thus allowing the name of D.B. Cooper to garner high status in the global pop-culture.

The latest Netflix documentary titled D.B. Cooper: Where are you?! eulogizes the mystery man in a four-part series. Through first-hand accounts of his co-passengers, top-level experts and investigators, citizen sleuths, etc., the series is an exhaustive report on the aftermath of the hijack and how the D.B. Cooper case has evolved to be a cultural phenomenon in the country.

Review:

In a nutshell, D.B. Cooper: Where are you? isn't a portrait of the infamous skyjacker, nor does it recount the story in a super detailed manner. While it sets up the context perfectly well and succinctly, the four-part docu series is dedicated to those consumed by the intrigue and absurdity of the incident. In the garb of analyzing the same, we come across some of the most experienced investigative journalists, FBI bigwigs, and industry experts who have spent thousands of hours and countless sleepless nights trying to unravel the D.B. Cooper mystery. “It’s a vortex,” says one of them, admitting that while the five-decade-old crime is no longer the concern, one can’t help but be completely mesmerized by the perfection in its design. There have been similar pieces of cinema in the past that discuss the lives of the agents who volunteered to solve complex and extraordinary mysteries - Oliver Stone’s seminal 1991 film JFK about attorney Jim Garrison’s plight, David Fincher’s exploration of cartoonist Bob Graysmith’s travails in tracking down the cryptic serial killer in Zodiac, or Spotlight, Tom McCarthy’s study of the systemic child abuse angle through the investigative reporters at The Boston Globe – and while the Netflix series fits in the same bracket, it also allows for contradictions among the many concerned parties to be its guiding factor. Director Marina Zenovich succeeds most in bringing together all the myriad facets of the investigation and lets the human story take precedence over the technicalities of the case. Yes, the people in question are technical experts and the long narrative does valiantly attempt to ‘solve’ the case but Zenovich is mainly curious about the queer fandom that D.B. Cooper has achieved over the years.

The operative word, in this case, is ‘fun’. Be it by lending the series a spunky tone or ensuring to explore every possible human angle, regardless of its merit or relation to the solving of the case, D.B. Cooper: Where are you? is a vibrant tale of bizarreness. It is hard to imagine, if it wasn’t for this docu-series, that a real-crime would inspire so many fascinating samples of pop culture: from skyjacker-themed pubs/restaurants to an immersive experience like Coopercon (a union of all D.B. Cooper junkies), the notoriety of D.B. Cooper has surely been morphed interestingly.

At the same time, Marina Zenovich doesn’t take the focus away from the real concern. Just as the HBO-backed doc-pic The Mystery of D.B. Cooper, D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! is driven by the main suspects of the heist. The first of the four episodes sets the context in a brisk fashion and soon introduces us to the most sought-after suspect of the vast lot, Robert Rackstraw, and builds a compelling case to reveal the high probability of him being the most-wanted man. However, not particularly depending on the various shreds of evidence, the series allows the same to be done through the eyes and gauge of well-known investigative reporter Tom Colbert. Colbert, as we would come to eventually realize, is one of the main protagonists of the narrative for spending close to a decade and a whopping amount on trying to nail Rackstraw almost forty years after the incident took place. The veteran reporter would draw flak for his incessant chase and also be condescended to by his younger colleagues for being stuck on the same suspect throughout: another highlight of the series is that it never lets the fusion of all the various perspectives feel cluttered.

Verdict:

For those versed with the D.B. Cooper mystery, the latest Netflix rendition is likely to be an irrefusable lure. Spread over a runtime of 166 minutes, this is as comprehensive as it gets as it highlights the vibrancy, and ridiculousness of the crime in equal measure. Sure, the narrative becomes a tad too self-indulgent in parts, especially when trying to make the stylization its main trait, but it will sustain one’s attention nevertheless. Watch the four-part series either in one binge or treat yourself to a measured dose of true crime whenever the mood strikes!