Weiner (2016)

An examination of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign and today's political landscape.

Directors:

Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg

Writers:

Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg

Stars:

Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin, Jordan Zain Weiner

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 53 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Anthony Weiner	...	Himself
Huma Abedin	...	Herself
Jordan Zain Weiner	...	Himself
Barbara Morgan	...	Herself - Communications Director
George McDonald	...	Himself
Camille Joseph	...	Herself - Campaign Manager
Amit Bagga	...	Himself - Senior Advisor
Maura Tracy	...	Herself - Senior Staffer
Sydney Leathers	...	Herself
Andrew Noh	...	Himself - Campaign Aide
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Adam S. Barta	...	Himself
Bill Clinton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hillary Clinton	...	Herself (archive footage)
Stephen Colbert	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bill de Blasio	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

Serving seven consecutive terms, Anthony Weiner, good friends with and political allies to the Clintons, was once a highly respected member of Congress from New York City, he seen as a man sticking up for the every day person. That all changed in June, 2011 when he was forced to resign in disgrace after admitting that he did tweet lewd "headless" photos of himself from his public Twitter account to women he met online, and that it was not the work of a hacker or that the photos were of someone else. At the time, his wife Huma Abedin, herself a key aide to Hillary Clinton, was pregnant with their first child, she who decided to stand by her man. Two years later with Abedin still by his side, Weiner tries to resurrect his political career in a run for New York City mayor. He realizes that he has an uphill battle not only because of the known previously tweeted photos, but that there are other lewd photos from that era that may also come to light during the campaign. Regardless of the ...

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Plot Keywords:

photo | campaign | weiner | political | new york | 

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Taglines:

Anthony Weiner was a young congressman on the cusp of higher office when a sexting scandal forced a humiliating resignation. Just two years later, he ran for Mayor of New York City, betting that his ideas would trump his indiscretions. He was wrong.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual material

Details

Official Sites:

IFC Films Madman Entertainment

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 May 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amerikan malliin

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$84,173, 22 May 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,612,203, 29 July 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edgeline Films, Motto Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's opening prologue is a quotation which reads: "The name of a man is a numbing blow from which he never recovers - Marshall McLuhan".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Anthony Weiner: Shit. Shit. This is the worst. This is the worst. Doing a documentary on my scandal...
[happily on the phone]
Anthony Weiner: Hi!

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Connections

Features Weiner and Me (2013)

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Soundtracks

Icarus
Written by Tom Paul and Alex Harvey
Produced by Tom Paul
Courtesy of Buddy's Room Music
Performed by Stephanie Jenkins (banjo), Alex Harvey (guitar), Lesley Kernochan (saw), Laurence Goldman (bowed bass), Jon Graboff (pedal steel), Tom Paul (bass)

User Reviews

What do we vote for these days?

As a New Yorker who voted in the mayoral election that is depicted in this film.....ahhh, if I had only known better.

Weiner is a politician who had a sex/porn/internet problem and it didn't disappear the minute he was publicly disgraced. Yet, he was an excellent politician, without a doubt a better candidate than the one I voted for. And yet, the story that was most in the news at the time (and shown in this film) was his poor judgement about his personal life, and negligible press about his competency as a champion for the middle class. Furthermore, the timeline of the Sydney Leathers relationship was hardly prominent. I hadn't realized it was over a year earlier. (Albeit better if it had been five years earlier though.)

History is replete with great leaders who had amoral sex lives, not the least Harding who had an illegitimate child shortly before his election as our 29th president. We won't even discuss what happened in JFK's life, and yet the public forgives him.

In no way do I think Weiner should be condoned for acting so inappropriately while being a public servant, but it would also be great if we could focus on POLITICAL competency instead of extramarital sexual blunders. As I see it, when Donald Trump is the GOP nominee with all his sexual improprieties, obviously it's all about the media. And to me, that is the true essence of this documentary. IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MEDIA.

My takeaway, although cliché, is that it's the media's storyline, which panders to the readers' lowest common interest -- bringing serious consequences to our politics today.