Nicholas Confessore

You're not taking sides.

I'm Nick Confessore.

I'm an investigations reporter for The New York Times.

Journalists like Nick follow the facts wherever they lead.

"'He's been great,' Rob says.

"'Nick hasn't done drugs in over six years.

"'He's in a really good place.'" And then the father does what he had been doing for 32 years.

He takes the blame.

I'm sure I made mistakes, he says.

He wants the audience to know he was never, ever too busy for his son, not like the father in the movie.

They've talked about it, he says, he and Nick.

Three months later, a family friend would tell a reporter that in the weeks before Christmas, Rob had been telling people he was scared for Nick and scared that his son's mental state was deteriorating.