Film Review: Ain’t That America in New Documentary ‘Weiner’

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CHICAGO – It’s almost impossible to invent any punishment that former Congressman Anthony Weiner hasn’t inflicted upon himself. According to modern media, his indiscretions are the ultimate sin, but the media hacks are also the rock throwers in the glass houses. It’s all in the new doc, “Weiner.”

Rating: 4.5/5.0

This is a document of Weiner’s 2013 run for Mayor of New York City – the seat that his Democratic rival, Bill DeBlasio, eventually secured. This was supposed to be Weiner’s second chance, after he had resigned from Congress after being “exposed” texting underwear pictures to female friends, all while married to former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin. When his NYC campaign began, with his forgiving wife by his side, all seemed well, and the poll numbers were trending upward. Suddenly, another incident is revealed, and Weiner becomes a laughing stock. How that happens, and what happens afterward, are the guts of the documentary. It becomes a Kafka-esque nightmare for Weiner, the media and the information we receive during a campaign that is life affecting.

Anthony David Weiner was a golden boy. Born in 1964, he was the youngest person ever elected to New York City Council in 1991, at age 27. From there he went to Congress in New York’s 9th district, where he served seven terms from 1999 to 2011. He was a fast rising, politically ambitious progressive with a royal wife – political operative Huma Abedin. It was a strange obsession that brought him down, and would follow him thereafter.

Weiner was involved in “sexting,” texts in which compromising pictures were exchanged with female friends, including one in his underwear. He was “exposed,” and the resulting firestorm ended with his resignation from Congress in 2011. Two years later, he wants to mount a comeback in the form of running for Mayor of New York City. What could possible go wrong?


Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Weiner”

Meet the Press: Anthony Weiner in ‘Weiner’
Photo credit: Sundance Selects

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Weiner”