This documentary shows how a startling scientific discovery descended into a frenzy of academic, governmental and judicial controversy. While the story of “Sue” — the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever found — is ultimately a happy one in that it is available for public viewing at the Field Museum in Chicago, the road to get there has been filled with years of legal complications, prison sentences, controversial The FBI raid and the wounded pride of a South Dakotan who hopes Sue will stay in the state where she was first found. What emerges is that Sue’s discovery ends up being much more than a real discovery, raising so many less interesting questions of property rights and private enterprise in work that is typically the exclusive domain of academia.

For children, the first third Dinosaur 13with its story of finding Sue on that brutally hot August afternoon in the Badlands of South Dakota and the obvious joy and passion these paleontologists felt when they realized their discovery, it is utterly captivating, especially for paleontologists starting out in the family. However, as the film delves into the federal government and all the court cases that have followed, it’s easy to imagine kids’ interest waning. Not that the story isn’t interesting, harrowing, and tragic, because it is, but the difference between discovering and discussing the gray areas in American property law regarding public and Indian lands is the difference between seeing Sue reassembled and towering over museum visitors and seeing parts of Sue kept in boxes confiscated and kept by the government.