I Am D.B. Cooper (2022 | USA | 100 minutes | T.J. Regan)

It’s easy to understand why the D.B. Cooper case is so fascinating to so many people. It’s the only unsolved airplane hijacking in US history and we’ll likely never know Cooper’s identity. It’s literally been fifty years since the hijacking of flight 305 from Seattle to Portland on November 24, 1971 and there’s not been any serious suspects since then. This isn’t even the first D.B. Cooper movie I’ve reviewed. 

D.B. Cooper could be almost anyone so he could just as easily be an old man with a limp and a Goofy sweatshirt in Mount Vernon, out on bail for an assault charge named Rodney, which is who this movie is about. I’m not sure I can call this a “mockumentary” because it’s not played for laughs the way Christopher Guest makes his films, though it is a farcical telling of what could’ve happened. T.J. Regan’s new film is such a great recreation of what a “real” documentary of this case could look like that the times when it stretched beyond normal credulity weren’t really bothersome. 

Rodney Bonnifield is the area man who befriends a pair of bounty hunters (one looks like he could be John Cena’s twin) when he needs to be bailed out of prison and he tells them matter of factly that he’s actually the real D.B. Cooper and presents himself as having a great memory of the crime. Importantly, he also remembers exactly where he buried the money and can lead the brothers to dig it up. 

I can’t say I Am D.B. Cooper puts us any closer to unraveling the mystery – the FBI has already given up – but it’s an enjoyable yarn that’s well-told and compelling.

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A previous version of this review ran when I Am DB Cooper made its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival. It opens on Friday, December 9 at the Varsity Theater and also on the usual VOD platforms.