Weiner (2016)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Film Perfection

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Anthony Weiner was a passionate New York congressman who fiercely fought to help the middle class and advocated health care. But then he went from helping the middle class, to becoming low class. If you have been hiding under a c*ck, I mean a rock, you know that the married Weiner disgraced himself repeatedly by his sexting and sex calls with other women. And yes, you can say it's all in the name, but the man not only did it once, he did it several times. Consequently, he resigned as Congressman. However, two years later, he courageously decided to run for the seat of Mayor of New York. The documentary primarily highlights all the P.R. and human challenges Weiner faced during his New York Mayor campaign, and also his "sext fall of the wagon" as he was repeatedly caught having sexual communication with other women. This documentary does not hold back, and fully exposes Weiner for who he is; a sharp politician of government, but a reckless human being which cost him his downward spiral not only with his career but with his public perception. "Weiner" bares all (sort of speak) on every aspect of Anthony Weiner, and even though you might think he is a despicable human being, I still think you should give this dickimentary, I mean documentary a try. **** Good

"Weiner" is a thoroughly engrossing and at times gut-wrenching documentary. It defines the "fly on the wall" style of documentary film-making, finding a situation in which so many would kill to "be a fly on the wall", and against the odds, making such a proposition possible. There is even a time when the filmmaker, off screen, asks Anthony Weiner why he allowed the moment that has just transpired to be filmed. Weiner doesn't seem to know. The man is a fantastic politician, one who lit a fire in the hearts of many liberals across the US. But as his political career ascends, his personal life falls apart. "Weiner" begins as the former congressman from Brooklyn rises from the ashes and attempts to run for mayor. As we know, but the filmmakers couldn't have foreseen, another scandal was brewing.If "Weiner" has a flaw, it's that its subject is too adept at handling questions about his infractions. As such, we don't really get a sense of why he did what he did. This man's enigma is a double-edged sword: he doesn't know why he sent those texts, and he doesn't know why he let a documentary crew follow him around in the midst of the fall out. As a result of this we get closer than we expect, but not too close.

Anthony Weiner is not a household name in the UK, but in the US he is quite notorious. He was a member of the Democrats who was a Congressman for part of New York from 1999 to 2011. He was very outspoken, very brash and seemed to have a lot of popular support. He was married to Huma Abedin – a well known talent in her own right – often seen as the right hand 'man' for Hilary Clinton. So a man with clear abilities and a sort of 'bloody' charisma.Then in 2011 he got embroiled in a sexting scandal which led to him having to quit congress amid a flurry of media interest. Then in 2013 he decided to stand as a mayoral candidate for New York. Him and his wife gave film makers full access to then during the campaign period and the film premiered at The Sundance Film Festival. The events that unfolded during that campaign are all documented here including some seemingly honest pieces from Weiner.As far as documentaries go this is a good one to watch as it is both well done and very entertaining – but I think that is because the story is so engaging and he is the sort of man that you kinda want to root for – and then again…. Anyway for US viewers they will likely have some knowledge of what transpired – but for the rest of us there is an interesting story here waiting to be viewed.

I'm not going to do a precis of the film, given others here already have.But: 1) I'm a picky so'n'so, and I think anything above 8/10 requires bribery or blackmail. Yet I barely hesitated on giving this full marks. 2) Most of the reviews are from men, who are bemused as to why Abedin stayed with Weiner for so long. As a woman, I'd suggest it's because ... 3) I've never seen charisma come over before on a screen. There's watchable in terms of actors, but that's different. This guy OOOZES charisma, to the point that it's leaking out of the screen. She didn't stay with him because she wanted to stay, she stayed because she struggled to leave.This review is being written on 9/11/16, i.e. the day of Trump's victory in the US election (he makes a brief, hugely hypocritical contribution in the first 10 mins). The BBC showed this over the weekend, which was just after the Clinton / FBI / Abedin / Weiner contribution to the e-mail issue. Either the Beeb got *very* lucky on scheduling, or they pulled a blinder on rescheduling.Trump has no self-awareness, cares nothing for his electorate, and struggles to stay away from women. Weiner's the opposite on the first two points, but identical on the third. Watch this film if you want to see the kind of human who should be allowed power, as opposed to the sociopath who's achieved it.