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Best of Enemies
The film recounts the ten debates between William F. Buckley,Jr. and Gore Vidal since 1968 in ABC News. The film also takes a closer look at their subsequent thoughts and action on their following articles.
3 October 1925, West Point, New York, USA
19 November 1936, Gibbon, Nebraska, USA
2 June 1949, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
12 May 1914, Ferriday, Louisiana, USA
10 August 1963, Godstone, Surrey, England, UK
13 April 1949, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK
January 20, 2016
Simultaneously documenting the on-and-off air sparring matches for audiences too young to remember them, but also chart their place in the history of modern political discourse make this a nourishing and entertaining documentary.
August 13, 2015
Like its two subjects, "Best of Enemies" is lively and smart. Unlike them, it's even-handed.
August 13, 2015
There is something about the siren call of the TV camera that can turn even big thinkers into brawlers. It was true then and it's true now, and "Best of Enemies" serves as a thoroughly enjoyable reminder.
February 12, 2016
As Christopher Hitchens puts it, "There's nothing feigned about their mutual animosity. They really do despise each other."
June 12, 2016
Almost obscenely entertaining.
July 10, 2016
Its goal is primarily to entertain its audience by presenting a chewy compendium of the snittiest sound bites.
August 21, 2015
What followed [in the debates] was not so much a clash of well-articulated ideas as a clash of highly articulate persons who regarded ideas as ammunition.
May 27, 2016
If even these two witty, well-educated, well-mannered men of letters couldn't keep their on-air interactions from degenerating into cheap shots and name-calling, who could?
August 14, 2015
Did anyone win? Most say Vidal, since Buckley descended to physical threats. But really, has anyone won in any of this endless bickering?
August 13, 2015
For better or for worse, we'll never again see television quite like that documented in the compelling "Best of Enemies" ...
December 04, 2015
This doc about the 10-night series, directed by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville (who won an Oscar last year for Twenty Feet From Stardom), provides an entertaining and, ultimately, depressing peek into TV at a pivotal moment.
July 14, 2016
Anyone interested in political debate and the state of modern television will find Best of Enemies most engrossing.