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Anthony Weiner has been making a lot of headlines lately. After creeping slowly back into the spotlight to lend his support to Hillary Clinton‘s campaign, Weiner seemed to be on a bit of a comeback kick. However, everything came crashing down — again — for the embattled politician when it was revealed that he was embroiled in yet another sexting scandal. This time his young son was in the photo with him.
Now, with the announcement that his wife Huma Abedin is finally leaving him, Weiner is back to being a pop culture punching bag. Just last night Stephen Colbert gleefully pounced, employing every dick joke he could against the ruefully-named man. So it’s the perfect time to watch the humanizing and humiliating documentary, Weiner. The film, which is available to stream on VOD, details Weiner’s attempted mayoral run and last fall from grace. It also pits the politician against The New York Post, his embarrassed wife, and himself.
A lot has been made of Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner’s relationship over the last few days (and years). A Democratic Party power couple, the duo seemed destined to play a key role in New York City and American politics. Together they evoke comparisons to the ever-trendy Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Like the first Secretary of the Treasury, Abedin’s skyrocketed to fame as the right-hand “man” to an ultra-powerful leader, Hillary Clinton. Whereas Weiner is the talented hothead whose career has been ruined by his sexual indiscretions and combative nature.
The film is full of scenes where Weiner simply can’t help himself. Weiner wants to be sympathetic to the man’s plight, but the cinematographers can’t help but to zero in on unattractive moments, think whenever he’s eating something sloppily. One of the more bizarre moments? When Weiner visited MSNBC and started ranting at Lawrence O’Donnell over video feed. O’Donnell was in DC so Weiner was literally kicking and screaming in an empty studio. The footage is jarring. Even more so? When he giddily watches the final footage at home later in the evening, Abedin stands off to the side, completely perplexed by his delight. She asks, “Why are you laughing? This is crazy.” “It’s terribly crazy, but what else was I supposed to do? Tell me what I was supposed to do,” he says. She literally rolls her eyes. After she leaves the room, Weiner compliments her rare — in this age — distaste for the spotlight.
Throughout the film, it’s clear that Weiner has two main enemies: himself and the press. In terms of the press, his greatest foe? The New York Post. Early on in the documentary, as Weiner tries to rehabilitate his image before his mayoral run, his Communications Director Barbara Morgan informs him that she’s turned down an interview with Andrea Peyser. “Why?” Weiner asks. Morgan says she’s not a real reporter and Weiner shakes his head and says, “Let her get it out of her system.” During the phone interview, Peyser’s first question was which New York Post headline was his favorite. “I don’t read the New York Post,” he says. “You don’t?” she asks incredulously as a chyron of embarrassing covers flies up below.
Later, during a team crisis meeting, Weiner and his staff seem particularly preoccupied with the Post. Morgan is worried that if anyone in the room talks, it will leak to the paper. She also laments that she’s being harassed by reporters on the street threatening to write that she’s having an affair (with Weiner???) if she doesn’t cooperate. Weiner tries to temper the mood and Abedin requests that Morgan makes certain she looks happy as she leaves the apartment building. She swiftly adds that it’s to protect Morgan, but you can’t mistake her cool, calm approach to damage control.
The main arc of the film isn’t Weiner’s disastrous mayoral run, but what looks to be the breakdown of his relationship with Abedin. At the start, he’s buoyed by her love and support. He explains the reason he lied to the press during his first brush with scandal is to protect her. He repeatedly tells people how wonderful she is. There’s a scene early on where he cajoles her into calling up her black book of contacts to ask for campaign donations. She’s uncomfortable, but willing to do it for him.
Huma Abedin’s support swiftly dissolves once her husband’s sexting and phone sex “affair” with Sydney Leathers is revealed. She is increasingly frustrated, unhappy, and unwilling to join him in public. One of the last scenes puts her on Election Day, watching as he leaves for last-minute campaigning with their toddler son. He makes a sincere plea for her to join them and later we see him spin a story for why she’s not there. After his loss, she’s mortified to discover that Leathers is waiting to confront them at the after party. The whole thing is devastating and uncomfortable to watch — especially in the light of this week’s news.
Weiner is a fascinating documentary about a man who could have easily rose to power, but decided to succumb to his own self-destructive behavior. It’s a contemplation about the intersection of media and politics, and an examination of a fascinating marriage gone downhill. It’s a total must-watch — not merely because Anthony Weiner is in the news this week.
[Photos: Motto Pictures]
