Reviews & Quotes | Happy Valley

Library Journal | Reviewed by John Hiett, formerly with Iowa City Public Library
"This documentary examines the effects of these episodes on the individuals, the families, the campus, and the wider community. It explores deep waters via access to network archives, the families, and one of the victims, Sandusky's adopted son. As a play-by-play recounting of this full-blown tragedy, Happy Valley succeeds spectacularly." 

LA Times | Reviewed by Kenneth Turan
"When you have a story that has the kind of explosive momentum these stories do, you have to scratch your head and ask why people find this so interesting, what gives the story traction.'Bar-Lev did more than that; he was open to exploring the surprisingly various points of view people had about the ramifications of the Sandusky situation. Happy Valley is especially good at revealing a mass desire to shift blame, showing how everyone the scandal touched wanted to focus on the aspect that made them the least responsible.For the Penn State Board of Trustees, for instance, that meant distancing themselves as far as possible from the people who were involved. Paterno, to the continued shock of his family and the student body, was thrown under the bus despite his decades of services and summarily fired, as was the university president."