Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
2010 Directed by Alex Gibney
Synopsis
Money. Sex. Power. Betrayal.
This documentary feature takes an in-depth look at the rapid rise and dramatic fall of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Nicknamed "The Sheriff of Wall Street," when he was NY's Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer prosecuted crimes by America’s largest financial institutions and some of the most powerful executives in the country. After his election as Governor, with the largest margin in the state's history, many believed Spitzer was on his way to becoming the nation's first Jewish President. Then, shockingly, Spitzer’s meteoric rise turned into a precipitous fall when the New York Times revealed that Spitzer - the paragon of rectitude - had been caught seeing prostitutes.
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Finally got to see it, it a very interesting story, the way he went about getting prostitutes seemed really self destructive, if you are a governor and also one with so many enemies seems reckless and silly to do that, but he did, and although it's refreshing hear him take full responsibility for it, to me seems ridiculous to get rid of a governor for that. The documentary left me with the idea that the governor position was too big for him, once he got there he was threading water and hopefully nearing a good spot but then this happened. Maybe he should have stayed as a DA where he had done so much good.
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The second collaboration between Gibney and Peter Elkind, following the superb 'ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room', sees them look at political ramifications of betrayal and the moral crusade through the resignation of New York governor Eliot Spitzer. I didn;t really know much about Spitzer going into the film, so it was good to get a sense of his background and political aims. By doing this, though, Gibney quite clearly states his stance on the matter, causing me to wonder why any Republican would agree to be caught on tape here.
Overall it is a reminder of how horrid those involved in the political and financial worlds can be, a fairly well made analysis of petty revenge and a reminder of how easy it is to get the general public to accept an idea hook, line and sinker.
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Interesting documentary about the egomaniacs, criminals & scumbags that are involved in big business & politics, not the best put together documentary i've seen & strangely edited & plotted at times but a decent enough watch if you enjoy tales of corruption & downfall...
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There's something clever at work in this film from Alex Gibney, progressive champion. To me, the uncovering of the prostitution ring in relation to Spitzer was absurd, banal, and arbitrary. Effectually meaningless to a man who claims to place ideas before the self. I can't help but feel the boredom that Spitzer himself must have felt having been taking down by some puritanical technicality that only became relevant after he overreached, trying to change too much for a system built for incremental, almost geologic change. There should be Gibneys present for each phase of American current events.
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Very insightful documentary. I find Eliot Spitzer fascinating, and one of the things I like about this documentary is that it brings up some great questions about him and the events surrounding his downfall. However, more than any of the questions is raises, what fascinates me is that Spitzer was willing to sit for the documentary and be interviewed, and I found him endlessly intriguing. What kind of man performs the actions this man performs? How do you reconcile a man who is so much about the law, and then breaks it? More importantly, who is this man? He guards himself so carefully.
They mention in the documentary that he was considered a strong frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.…
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Eliot Spitzer is an intriguing and controversial figure, making him a great central figure to this stylish documentary. It holds nothing back when it comes to engaging with his sexual slip-ups, which gives the film a very honest and assertive tone. Unfortunately, as a result of spending so much time talking about his prostitution allegations, Eliot Spitzer's efforts in politics are rushed through in order to get to more gossip-based stories with Spitzer and his adversaries, usually following with someone, including Spitzer, denying it ever happened.
Despite the tagline on the poster which states 'You don't know the real story', it didn't offer me much information about him that I did not already know, as I was only really familiar…
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Alex Gibney's foray into the mind of Eliot Spitzer makes for an excellent and thought provoking film. Spitzer is candid in his interview and Gibney really captures all of the idiosyncrasies that this controversial figure has to offer. He is full of hubris, over-ambitious, and a force to be reckoned with. Yet, rather than just partake in an Diane Sawyer-esque interview, in which the subject is asked loaded questions in hopes to illicit some sort of emotional or knee jerk reaction, Gibney leaves the judgements to the tabloids.
Instead, he asks why. Why was he the target of a federal case when federal cases usually go after the prostitution service rather than the patron? For what exact reasons was he… -
Client 9 is a slick documentary that delves into the seedy underbelly and corruption of Wall Street and the scandal surrounding the man who tried to clean it up. In many ways it is a morality tale, even Spitzer references how his story resembles Greek mythology, and filmmaker Alex Gibney certainly plays up the drama. Gibney was responsible for the excellent documentary, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and whilst Client 9 doesn’t match his previous film it is certainly an interesting and informative companion piece. Whilst the film features interviews with most of the major players in the Spitzer case it never really feels balanced. Spitzer is painted as a white knight with a small weakness, it may…
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First watch