This superb documentary captures Gore Vidal in all his ever-articulate glory.
90
Village VoiceErnest Hardy
Village VoiceErnest Hardy
It's an admittedly hagiographic film, an unabashed celebration of the man and his work and worldview. The few mild naysayers are largely set up to be knocked down, but as such the film is invigorating.
Heavily seasoned with epigrams worthy of Oscar Wilde, this entertaining documentary portrays Vidal as a pessimistic political prophet with streaks of paranoia and misanthropy, but a truth teller nonetheless.
The grounding material here is with the elderly Vidal himself... Unfailingly witty and devastatingly insightful, he personifies that near-extinct species — the public intellectual.
63
Slant MagazineWes Greene
Slant MagazineWes Greene
The unbalanced appraisal of Vidal's life and work in Nicholas Wrathall's documentary diminishes the effect of the writer's engaging dissension of American political policy.
60
Time Out LondonTom Huddleston
Time Out LondonTom Huddleston
The film’s blanket refusal to question its subject feels not only cowardly, but antithetical.
60
Time OutKeith Uhlich
Time OutKeith Uhlich
Nicholas Wrathall’s documentary—rough-edged in style, yet anchored by pointed and poignant interviews with the man himself — is mostly for those already fascinated by Vidal’s colorful life.
50
The DissolveVadim Rizov
The DissolveVadim Rizov
With its autumnal, end-of-days feeling, Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia ends up serving as a capably assembled but deeply felt obituary for both its title subject and the late Hitchens.