Review of Best of Enemies (2015) by Brian B — 08 Dec 2015

Best of Enemies is a truly compelling, complex and artistic piece of cinema. Tracking the famed debates between Republican William F. Buckley Jr. and Democrat Gore Vidal in an interwoven tale of personal demons and self interest, the film expertly examines the differences and similarities between the two men as they revolutionize a national pastime: television debates.

The story plays out almost like a boxing movie, giving an idea of the strengths of both fighters and steeping them both in past success and glory up until the point when the audience has a chance to realize that these two titans are going into a cage together to spar.

The film's use of debate footage mixed with a built in commentary of interviews from biographers, friends and associates lays the groundwork for how the battle of wits between the two intellectual giants begins and continues heating up until it explodes like a firecracker.

To put it all in perspective, the philosophy proposed is fascinating to think of that this corner of history, the summer of 1968, was the grounds for a debate that evolved from possibly good television into a lifestyle and radical new way of believing and watching what television has to offer us.