Best of Enemies poster

Best of Enemies( 2015)

TV-MADocumentaryHistory
72%
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Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same.

Overview

A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"

    Top Billed Cast

    1. cast image

      Gore Vidal

      Self

    2. cast image

      William F. Buckley Jr.

      Self

    3. cast image

      Kelsey Grammer

      Self

    4. cast image

      John Lithgow

      Self

    5. cast image

      Dick Cavett

      Self

    6. cast image

      Christopher Hitchens

      Self

    7. cast image

      Noam Chomsky

      Self

    Social

    Review 1Discussion
    r

    A review by rsanek

    7
    Written by rsanek on Sun Apr 11 2021
    Interesting watch. Vidal's name was recognizable to me but I had never really known how successful he was as a author (and playwright!). It is interesting to see how profit-seeking capitalism in media (in this case TV, but now also on social media platforms) really incentivizes content that is belligerent and argumentative. I have a hard time believing that anyone would say that this is the ideal stuff to be consuming, and yet nothing is done to change the status quo. The last part of the film was perhaps the most enjoyable for me, where we watch as Buckley wrestles with a statement he made in ...

    Media

    Videos 2Backdrops 3Posters 5

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    Facts

    Status

    Released

    Original Language

    English

    Budget

    1000000.00

    Revenue

    -

    Keywords

    • chicago, illinois
    • miami, florida
    • politics
    • intellectual
    • author
    • debate
    • archive footage
    • television network
    • 1960s