Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

framptonhollis Surprisingly heartfelt and enormously entertaining, "Best of Enemies" observes the iconic debates and feuds between political intellectual masterminds Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, Jr. Both figures of American politics have contributed greatly to the world today in both positive and negative lights, and this thrilling and hilarious documentary presents these truths in an impressively objective light. I am one who will acknowledge that, no matter what my personal political affiliations may be, both Buckley and Vidal were brilliant individuals, charming in both their classiness as well as their tastes for fun and humor. The documentary gives both of the somewhat threatening gentlemen equal screen time, capturing both their lives and the times surrounding them in a way that gives any and all viewers a well developed understanding of the rivals in both a personal and political light. even if you aren't personally all too interested in politics, this film is still entertaining as Hell, because it's always fun to witness a true battle of the wits unfiltered by a desperate need to be overly kind or obscure your own views for the sake of political correctness. What we see here is pure debate with as much chaotic comedy in the mix as there is fierce intellect and impressive exchange between brilliantly well spoken ideas.

bob the moo This documentary put me in mind of Rumble in the Jungle, the documentary about the fight of the same name; like that one, Best of Enemies looks at a staged conflict which had an impact on popular culture. In this case it was a series of televised debates between Vidal and Buckley – two men on polar political extremes. It was interesting to watch this in the run up to the 2016 Presidential Debate between Trump and Clinton (at the time of writing this, the first one will be in 2 days' time) because it hearkens back to a time where the discourse was a little more civil. It is also interesting to note that there is still an edge to their communication, with Vidal using snide insults (as is the liberal way), and Buckley using more direct language in a jokey way (as is the conservative way).Not knowing anything about these debates, the film does a pretty good job of introducing the characters and their tensions, however it doesn't totally deliver in some key ways. Specifically it didn't bring out the period and the event as well as I would have liked; with Rumble in the Jungle you had a real sense of time/place, as well as the cultural importance of the event. With these debates that was not quite there; it didn't show enough of the debates to really explain why they were such an audience grabber. Likewise the film did not really link to its wider impact particularly well – a lot of this plays out under the credits, which felt weird considering that this was the moment of that shift.As an event, and with its large characters, it still is an interesting and engaging film, but it doesn't feel like it captures the event or its cultural impact in as compelling a way as it could have done.

ThatDoesntMatter As a documentary, this fails on several levels.First, for non-Americans, or even for Americans under 40, there is far too little background given to enjoy this documentary. Am I supposed to google the facts before I watch it? Maybe this documentary was made with a limited target audience in mind. I thought it a pity, I would have liked to have been informed about the politics of the time and the main characters at the beginning of the film, not guess while watching until the last third. Every American party has red white and blue, how does that help? ;-) Just sayin'...I found myself thinking I'd rather watch the original debates, the snippets we were given left me highly dissatisfied, the voice-overs from the respective autobiographical accounts could have been dealt with more satisfactorily as well, e.g. a transparent picture of the person in a corner of the frame instead of the name in letters.As a portrayal of how it came about and the effect it had I suppose it kind of works, but even that was sketchily done, it all became tangled and mixed up and nothing was really revealed and nothing really gelled.For me, it went on too long, it made too much of something that was not the real issue (Buckley losing his cool), and spent too little time putting the spotlight on reasons and motivations - it was like typical TV then and now, a superficial look on a show event. The news they have to sell, and what is news and what isn't is decided by market shares. Oh shock horror who knew...Two narcissistic men playing verbal tennis, ad hominems galore, what has changed? ;-) I've watched debates that managed without it. Watching this documentary does not inform me enough to have any kind of insight into either of those men. Conjectures was all I got, plus bits of original material. If an annoyed wish to be rather watching or reading the original was the objective of the producers then they succeeded.As documentaries go, a rather frustrating offering.

Paul Allaer "Best of Enemies" (2015 release; 88 min.) is a documentary about the infamous 10 televised debates that took place during the 1968 Republican and Democratic Presidential Conventions (in Miami and Chicago, respectively), between conservative William Buckley Jr. and liberal Gore Vidal. As the documentary opens, Vidal is commentating about old pictures hanging up in his house and one of them is showing Buckley and Vidal at one of those debates. We then get some background as to who these 2 guys are, and why ABC veered away to bring the "unconventional Convention" coverage. And then we get to the first debate... To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this documentary is co-directed by Morgan "20 Feet From Stardom" Neville and Robert Gordon, who is affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. If you think that means the documentary is kinder to Buckley that to Vidal, think again. The two men are pitted against each other, and vehemently disdain each other, even before these debates, and much more so afterwards. "It was a confrontation of life styles", as someone comments. Yes, it was, but as it turns out, these debates had another unexpected consequence: ABC's ratings went through the roof, and the other mainstream networks quickly realized they had to have their own versions of these "point-counterpoint" programs. In other words, the Buckley-Vidal debates set into motion what would eventually become the Fox's and MSNBC's news channels. Apart from the historical legacy created by these debates, the documentary also examines the long shadows cast be the debates over the personal lives of both Vidal and (even more so) Buckley. If you have any interest in politics and/or in TV history, you will not want to miss this documentary. It makes for completing viewing, period."Best of Enemies" made quite a splash at the Sundance film festival earlier this year. The movie's been out for months and I didn't think it would reach theaters here in Cincinnati, but then out of the blue t showed up this weekend at my local art-house theater here. I figured this would not be playing very long and went to see it right away, The matinée screening where I saw this at turned into a private screening, as in: I literally was the only person in the theater. A shame, as this is a riveting documentary. If you get the chance to see this, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, do not mist it! "BEst of Enemies" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!