Weiner (2016)

☆ ☆ ☆ 

Weiner (2016) – J. Kriegman & E. Steinberg

I guess I needed to expose myself to even more political self-immolation. Or perhaps expose isn’t the right word in this context.  And that’s the sort of joke you get in this documentary about Anthony Weiner, former congressman from New York and subsequent mayoral candidate for the Big Apple. In a frankly unbelievable performance (made available to us because Weiner himself allowed the filmmakers access to his life), the candidate bravely continues his campaign despite apparently having an ongoing sexting habit.  So, viewers get to bear witness to his strange unwillingness to stay out of the public eye despite widespread derision – is it masochism? Narcissism? He seems to be self-aware enough about people’s opinions (perhaps unlike a certain presidential candidate).  The filmmakers keep things lively for 90 minutes, despite the scandal hitting in the first half-hour; they focus the “plot” in on the tension between Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, who is in fact vice-chair of Hillary’s presidential campaign (and they announced their separation just this month after yet more sexting).  But ultimately, we don’t really get inside of Weiner, nor Abedin, and we don’t know whether this is a tragedy because of his really solid ideas (he seems to be a fighter for the middle class) or a farce because of his unsuitability for office.  The filmmakers don’t really take sides.  So, it’s a bit like watching a trainwreck as you pass by in your car without ever learning enough about how or why it happened…