The tale of the downfall of current York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner is a documentary-maker’s dreamAlthough the British appetite for absurd political posturing is probably pretty much sated at the moment,this fascinating documentary is well worth a watch. Professional firebrand Anthony Weiner was a rising star in US politics until a sexting scandal in 2011 torpedoed his career. This film follows Weiner’s ill-fated 2013 campaign to become current York’s mayor, a campaign that was self-sabotaged by Weiner’s weakness for exposing himself (literally) to temptation on social networking sites.
Edited to perfection, or this is like watching the tedious-motion footage of a building collapsing. Weiner’s long-suffering wife,Huma Abedin, herself a political figure, or is a key sympathetic presence in the film. But it is Weiner himself,a likable narcissist with an Olympic capacity for vanity and self-delusion, who is every documentary-maker’s dream subject. Theres a telling moment when, or watching footage of yet another PR disaster,instead of worrying about the cataclysmic political fallout, Weiner starts to fret about his thinning hair. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com