Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

asc85 When CNN advertised that they were showing this film, I was very interested and excited. I was in my late 20's when this show was aired, and thought it was terrible, but watched parts of a number of shows, as it was like watching a train wreck. Still, since Mort was so out-of-control, I thought this would make a fun and interesting documentary to watch. Uh-uh. About half way through, I was bored, although I continued to watch it until the end. At 90 minutes, the movie was way too long, and would have worked more effectively as a one hour show on HBO, or even CNN for that matter. There were weird animation scenes, and weird flashbacks, particularly of his father, who was a famous singer of an earlier era. In short, I didn't think it was possible to have an uninteresting, uninspired documentary on Morton Downey Jr., but guess what? That's what the filmmakers did.

Woodyanders The Morton Downey Jr. Show blazed like an incendiary comet for about two years on television in the late 1980's only to crash and burn due to the all-too-human flaws and foibles of its exceptionally crude, rude, and abrasive host Morton Downey Jr. Notorious for the ruthless way he ferociously bullied and berated guests that he disagreed with, Downey Jr. played the role of the angry and abusive ultra-conservative right-wing wacko to the deliciously slimy hilt. Naturally, it was basically all a cunning and calculated act, but Downey Jr. still managed to achieve significant iconic status with a huge segment of the disenfranchised American public as a kind of say-it-like-you see it blue collar folk hero. Born to show business parents (his mother was a dancer and his father was a famous singer), Downey Jr. initially made an abortive attempt to become a singer like his much-despised father before going on to work for the Kennedy family as a liberal senator (!) in the 1960's prior to recreating himself as a hostile Republican loudmouth rabble rouser in the 1980's.Fortunately, this documentary neither glorifies nor vilifies Downey Jr; instead it presents him warts'n'all as an extremely angry and insecure man whose fragile ego and continual desire for acceptance caused him to self-destruct in the most excruciatingly painful manner possible (Downey Jr. infamously staged an incident claiming that he had been attacked and brutalized by skinheads in an airport bathroom, which this documentary states for the record was an outright hoax concocted by Downey Jr. to get one of his wives to feel sorry for him). The clips from The Morton Downey Jr. Show are every bit as outrageous and hilarious as one would expect -- obnoxious gadfly Al Sharpton was knocked flat on his then fat pompous keister on one legendary episode which made the news -- while the latter footage of habitual chain smoker Downey Jr. transforming into a staunch anti-smoking advocate in the wake of being diagnosed with lung cancer registers as remarkably poignant and heart-wrenching. Mort's daughter Kelli Downey Cornwell and his best friend Lloyd Schoonmaker offer touching insights into the more human side of Mort while Chris Elliot, Sally Jessy Raphael, and Pat Buchanan discuss Downey Jr.'s legacy as a true trash TV pioneer who kicked politeness and civility out the door and replaced it with roaring rage and fury. Moreover, producer Bob Pittman admits he feels guilty about providing Mort with an ideal forum in which to bring about his own ruination while writer Jim Langan and bodyguard David Giegold tell some colorful stories about their wild ride working for Downey Jr. Although not without its flaws (for example, this documentary completely ignores the fact that Mort was a gay baiter who had a homosexual brother with AIDS who appeared as a guest on his show as well as glosses over Mort's subsequent career as an actor after his show went down the tubes), this documentary still overall sizes up as a fascinating chronicle of a singular 80's icon.

LeonLouisRicci "The Mouth" (Morton Downey Jr.), a Nickname that His Fans and Detractors Hung on the Controversial TV Personality, Aptly Described this Poser. A Self Proclaimed Spokesman for the "Little Guy", the Guy Without a Voice. His Right Wing Posing was Most Likely 90% Act and 10% Real.But What You Discover in this Documentary About the Two Year Rise and Fall of a "Personality" that Hosted a TV Talk Show that Went From Obscurity to a Highly Popular Syndication and then as Quickly as it Arrived was Snuffed Out by its Own Inertia.Downey, it Seems, was One of those Pop Culture Icons that Started to Believe His Own Hype and the Illusion Became the Man's Reality. His Off Screen Antics that were Absent Before He was On Magazine Covers and a Household Name, Became Part of the Man's Personality. He Embraced the On Air Shenanigans and Started Living His Life Like His "Character". The End, in Retrospect was Inevitable. After He was Discovered Hoaxing an Attack by Skinheads, it was All Over. His Sincerity was Now in Question and No One Could Take Him Seriously. Not Even His Devoted Audience Nicknamed "The Beast". The Show Devolved Into Circus Acts with Freaks and Strippers. He and the Show Never Recovered. It was a Two Year Pop Culture Comet that Crashed and Burned and Unlike it's Celestial Counterpart, was Not a Pretty Sight.He Must be Given Credit (if that is the term) for Unleashing a Television Format of Divisiveness. Political and Social TV Shows of Varying Personalities and Style that Remain with Us Today. From Reality Shows to Fox News, and Right Wing Talk Radio, it was Mort that Made it All OK. It Sells. Taking a Cue from Joe Pyne a TV Pundit that Came Before Downey, The Mouth just Amped it Up a Notch, Roamed the Studio Instead of Staying Seated, and Cursed, Spit, and Insulted His Guests Ad Nauseum.Overall, the Documentary is a Good Chronicle of the Man and His Show and its Influence and is a Necessary Distillation of a Pop Culture Zeitgeist. The Residue Remains and this is a Good Place to Find Out Where to Put the Thanks or the Blame.

TheBeardedWonder Like the other reviewer, I had never heard of this guy's show until this doc. I'd heard the name, but didn't know what it was associated with. Having seen this I can only say I wish it had more insights into WHY he's the man he is. It comes across as more summary than commentary, and that's always a shame to see in a documentary.He didn't innovate anything, as we find out that they were just copying the format of an old 1960s show, so no points for him there either. With that gone Downey Jr is just another angry middle aged man ranting on TV against people who can't actually change anything anyway. Just like it still is, it was all about the ratings more than the content.All in all, an entertaining movie for a mere budget of $300k, but could have been so much more...