Best of Enemies (2015 film)
| Best of Enemies | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by |
|
| Music by | Jonathan Kirkscey |
| Cinematography |
|
| Edited by |
|
|
Production
companies |
|
| Distributed by | |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $750,000 |
| Box office | $904,119 |
Best of Enemies is a 2015 American documentary film co-directed by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville about the 1968 televised debates between intellectuals Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, Jr., and their aftermath. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It was acquired by Magnolia and Participant Media.
The film took five years to make because of struggles to secure funding, get interviews, and uncover archival footage.
The film examines the ten televised debates between William F. Buckley, Jr. and Gore Vidal in August 1968 that were moderated by anchorman Howard K. Smith during ABC News coverage of the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It especially focuses on a specific incident of on-air insults directed at each other by Vidal and Buckley, and follows their subsequent thoughts and actions, including articles each wrote for Esquire magazine and the years-long litigation that resulted. It also expands on the impact of these debates on the beginning of modern American punditry.
Best of Enemies received very positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 94% rating based on 98 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Smart, fascinating, and funny, Best of Enemies takes a penetrating—and wildly entertaining—look back at the dawn of pundit politics." On Metacritic, the film has a 77 out of 100 rating based on 21 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".
...
Wikipedia