Had a quick, enlightening chat with a documentary filmmaker today, and I can’t stop thinking about what he said.
The subject was “Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story,” a rambunctious documentary on the late GOP strategist – or political hit man, depending on your ideological preference.
Grand fodder for a documentary, and the film sinks its teeth into the material. But director Stefan Forbes told me before the screening that he didn’t want to make a one-sided documentary.
He sounded heartfelt. I believed him. But the finished product isn’t as balanced as he proclaimed.
A pair of contributors from The Nation shape the narrative, and while the material pertaining to Atwater is generally balanced, the tilt of the film itself follows the Nation scribes’ lead.
The film comes out Sept. 26 nationwide. You can see for yourself then.
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(Photo: President George H.W. Bush jams with GOP strategist Lee Atwater, the focus of a new documentary)
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