Title: Class Action Park
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Seth Porges, Chris Charles Scott III
Starring: Mary Pilon, Jim DeSaye, Jessi Paladini
Runtime: 1 hr 30 mins
What It Is: It’s New Jersey in the 1970s and Andrew Mulvihill has an idea to make a water park so epic that everyone and everything will want to visit New Jersey. That perhaps this place can be the thing that helps build the surrounding area. Mulvihill was a man of ideas. He was also seemingly one with plenty of ways to scheme both the state of New Jersey and the patrons of this waterpark perhaps properly named “Action Park”.
Our Grade: The insights given here to paint a picture of what Action Park was like to accomplish their goal. Hearing from somewhat famous former attendees like Chris Gethard and Alison Becker really gives the sense that this place had a ton of hype. That it knew and catered to its demographic, but also that it was an injury lawsuit waiting to happen. One of the best parts of this doc is the complexity of the storytelling here. There’s tax evasion, injuries, deaths, negligence…literally all manner of crime. Just…happening. I think the directors do a wonderful job of putting all the pieces together here. That’s by no means an easy feat.
What We Think: B-, This doc has the luxury of telling such a unique tale. It’s something that if not done correctly can make the perspective of the entire film feel…wrong. This gets it and handles even the most delicate of topics with absolute class. And trust me there are some heavy things involved here. Even if you don’t think that there would be. I can highly recommend you check this out. Luckily it is easy to find on HBO MAX. I was not disappointed with what I got here. An absolutely splendid piece that tells a tale that while somewhat regional is nonetheless completely interesting.