Weiner

Film (2016)
Documentary

Kendall Square Cinema, Cambridge, MA

Anthony Weiner, a scrappy, totally outspoken, liberal Democratic Congressman from New York City was riding high in 2010, after eleven years in Congress, noted for his determination, his zeal, his forthright and never-take-no attitude. He also had just married Huma Abedin, a close advisor to Hillary Clinton, in a wedding officiated by Bill Clinton.

Abedin was pregnant with their first child when a scandal involving a series of lurid text messages that appeared to come from and to Weiner surfaced. Eventually, in the wake of a huge blowup over the scandal, and Weiner’s initial lying about his actions, he resigned in 2011.

In 2013, after suffering through a couple of years of indignation, Weiner decided to run for the office of mayor in New York against Bill de Blasio and a series of other candidates. With Abedin’s support, he jumped into the fray, answered endless questions about the scandal and about his initial refusal to acknowledge what he had done. He also spoke energetically, in the way he had as Congressman, in support of liberal values, but was up against such a wall of negative publicity that it was barely possible for him to get recognized as a serious candidate. Further elements of his sexual exploits online emerged in the campaign, stressing his personal life and further condemning his political future.

The great thing about this fanciful documentary is its casual boldness and its extremely artful way of presenting its tragic protagonist. Only in name is it really a documentary. There are no talking heads, no real attempt to present both sides of the story, no real account of all the various factors that enter into the story. It’s not balanced in that sense, but it is, nonetheless, very good.

With a great deal of footage, much of it filmed during Weiner’s mayoral campaign in 2013, the filmmakers have put together, with brilliant editing and a lively and stimulating soundtrack, an account of its subject which is compelling and in many ways heartrending.

The story is very clear: promising and outspoken liberal politician, married to a talented and bright political operative, subverts and disables his own future with shenanigans that he must have thought would never come to light. Sound familiar?

Without saying as much, or making a big fuss about it, the filmmakers lightly touch on the subject of Bill and Hillary by putting tidbits of film that season and spice the Weiner-Abedin story. A brief scene captures Bill Clinton officiating at the Weiner-Abedin nuptials. What more need one say to speak about the history of indignity in politics and the possibility of redemption?

Weiner’s expressive face, always on display, obviously with his approval and everpresent awareness of the shooting of the film, reveals endless paragraphs of feeling ranging from pure blind determination to reflective self-criticism. Those moments of self-doubt are framed as relatively frequent but short-lived, always set in a spread of scenes in which Weiner, despite the obvious indignities, fights like hell as a candidate.

One also gets to see Weiner and Abedin and their young son in enough private moments to give a sense of what a political family thrust into the spotlight is like.

Other subtle moments abound. Interesting and persuasive among those are those moments showing Weiner’s aged mother at his mayoral phone-bank, apparently throwing her hat fully into the ring in the midst of the ever-present scandal. She doesn’t look at all like a defiant type who simply refuses to accept the truth about her son – she actually looks pretty down to earth and reasonable. They are quiet moments, subtly interjected the filmmakers, the effect interesting and persuasive.

This film is really much more like a Shakespearean tragedy in the guise of a documentary than it is a documentary of the historical or analytical sort. Its underlying gesture is dramatic – its dynamic soundtrack and catchy original music are effective in promoting that sense, as is the adroit and energetic pacing of the editing. As a result, the subject is evocative and moving, and despite all of the shenanigans and lies, one feels both empathy as well as outrage as one should for a well-crafted tragic hero.

– BADMan