Best of Enemies
Gore Vidal and William Buckley Jr. are considered iconic figures in their own right, but their on-camera battles on ABC became the stuff of legend. Directed by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville, who won an Oscar for 20 Feet From Stardom, the film uses talking head commentary from knowledgeable individuals like Noam Chomsky and Christopher Hitchens, archival footage of the media heavyweights, along with readings done by John Lithgow (who recites Vidal) and Kelsey Grammer (who recites Buckley). Among the relentless stream of cartoonish political debates in recent days, the documentary is a welcome reminder of a time when two gifted intellectuals took to television to fight for their side of the aisle with a better vocabulary, but just as much vigor. It may seem implausible that a couple of guys talking could be both thoroughly entertaining and genuinely fascinating, but that is exactly what Best of Enemies is.
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