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Best of Enemies
Best of Enemies

Best of Enemies

2015 87 min ★ 7.2 Documentary, History

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?"

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Cast

Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal

Self

William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr.

Self

Kelsey Grammer

Kelsey Grammer

Voice of William F. Buckley

John Lithgow

John Lithgow

Voice of Gore Vidal

Dick Cavett

Dick Cavett

Self

Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens

Self

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky

Self (archival)

Reid Buckley

Self

Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan

Self

Todd Gitlin

Self

Details

Director

Morgan Neville

Tagline

"Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same."

Status

Released

Original Language

EN

Budget

$1,000,000

Production

Tremolo Productions, Media Ranch, Motto Pictures, Magnolia Pictures, Participant, ITVS, JustFilms / Ford Foundation

Reviews

R

rsanek

April 11, 2021

★ 7/10

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 ...

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