IN SAYING
EVERYTHING ABOUT A MOVIE?
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IN SAYING EVERYTHING ABOUT A MOVIE? |
| CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER (director/writer: ; cinematographer: Maryse Alberti; editor: Plummy Tucker; music: Peter Nashel; Runtime: 117; MPAA Rating: R; producers: /Jedd Wider/Todd Wider/Maiken Baird; Magnolia; 2010) |
| "I
have no problem with Gibney's doc, except all of it
is common knowledge
... ."
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
("Enron: The
Smartest Guys in the Room"/"Taxi to the Dark
Side"/"Casino Jack and the
United States of Money") is writer and director of
this informative doc
on New York's Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his sordid fall
from power when caught in a scandal involving high-priced
call girls in March 2008. The self-righteous Spitzer, after a year in
office as governor
and eight years as NY's attorney general, where he was
known as
"the sheriff of Wall Street" for taking on
the abuses of the bankers by actively prosecuting
them. After Spitzer's forced resignation from
the governor's
office, these same bankers were allowed to police
themselves without
regulations and caused the downfall of the American
free enterprise
system. The film uses
on-camera
interviews,
talking-head
interviews, photographs, news reports, and excellent
location shots of
a glittering New York, as the
oily politician tries to explain his downfall in terms
of a classic
Greek tragedy. The pic seemed like just another
endless political
lesson to never trust either Wall Street or the
politicians. The only
thing I got out of this doc is to wonder if we
actually had honest
power-brokers looking after the public interest, could
we have avoided
the financial scandal. Spitzer was a bitter pill to
digest because he
was so arrogant, self-serving and hypercritical,
making me think
he got exactly what he deserved. Unfortunately, the
public suffered the
consequences and is still reeling from the many
different forms of
corruption within the American political system. I have no problem with
Gibney's doc, except all of it is common knowledge
(except why no
Repubicans were outed who used the same Washington,
D.C., hooker escort
service) and all too familiar to provoke further
anger. Gibney believes
Spitzer's downfall came not only from the politician's
character
flaws--a tragedy of his own doing--but was helped
along by the powerful
corporate enemies he feuded with who were out to get
him (powerful foes
like AIG Chairman Hank
Greenberg and
billionaire Home Depot co-founder Kenneth
Langone). To
me that's not a startling revelation,
but just pointing out business as usual. REVIEWED ON 12/22/2010 GRADE: B- Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ |