Weiner (2016) - Josh Kriegman & Elyse Steinberg

Josh Kriegman & Elyse Steinberg's Weiner is an intimate documentary examining of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign in New York City, a film that sets out to, and succeeds at providing one of the most intricate looks at modern politics, campaigning, and the media circus which has been created by the 24 hour news cycle.  A film that can be enjoyed by any person along the political spectrum,  Weiner is a film that succeeds at being both intimate and grandiose, a human study of a disgraced man whose past mistakes not only deeply effected his political career but also his relationship with Kuma, his wife, who also happens to be one of Hillary Clinton's top aids.  Weiner isn't interested in the right vs. wrong aspects of politicas as a documentary but documenting the current landscape, presenting modern politics and the 24 hour news cycle in all of its glory, capturing the reactionary culture it has created and how the general public and the media alike become fixated onto mistakes and scandals, unwilling to maintain objectivity simply due to the fact that vilifying an individual is much easier and more self-satisfying.   In doing this, the documentary presents a convincing argument that the news cycle often distracts viewers from what is really important, in this case focusing on Weiner's past indecencies instead of what his political views are for New York City.  This constant barrage is self-inflicted in a sense considering it's Weiner who decided to run regardless of his scandal, but the toll it takes on both him and his wife, Kuma, is a very humanistic aspect of this film, as the grating effect of the 24 hour news cycle makes a punching bag out of Weiner and it begins to take a toll.  Privacy is simply non-existent for both Weiner and his wife Kuma, characters who are forced to watch in great detail their personal marital struggles splashed all over the headlines.  As much as any documentary can, Weiner maintains objectivity in its examination of this flawed, but passionate man, capturing both his humility and lack-there-of, as he fights to maintain momentum of his political campaign  regardless of the pressures from both the media, his party, and the public to drop out of the race.  Weiner is an in-depth documentary that raises a lot of questions about politics, privacy, and the media, never pretending there are easy answers to complex problems facing modern society.  Its ability to remain objective in examining this flawed but well-intentioned man's mayoral campaign is its greatest attribute, a documentary that delivers an energetic, fast-paced experience that seems to match its spirited subject, Anthony Weiner. 

---