Radical Wolfe

There are two Thomas Wolfe's in American literature. The first is known best as the author of "You Can't Go Home Again", in my view the Great American novel. But this film is about the other Wolfe, known as Tom. The two were not related, that they had the same name was a coincidence. While Thomas wrote serious literary prose, Tom's prose was less inhibited, partly because of his friendship with Hunter Thompson. On the other hand, Thomas' life was an alcoholic mess while Tom was very buttoned down in his famous white suits. They both came from the south and had Ivy league educations and were influenced by James Joyce.

It is sad, to me, that this film did do justice to Tom or his writing. The writers of this film wanted to make Tom into a conservative writer such as William F Buckley, Jr. It is true that Tom was no liberal, but he was more of an impartial observer, and while he poked fun of liberals it was not malicious like many on the right. For instance when he wrote about drug culture in "The Electric Kool Aid AcidTest" he tried out LSD himself to understand it. Unlike this biography, he had a good sense of humor.

This biography had lots of interviews of people who knew Tom or his work and lots of film clips of Tom himself. But it had no life. Tom had a life and he deserved better.

I came into this documentary without knowing anything about Mr. Wolfe and I was pleasantly surprised. The creators told the story of his life as a writer and a person, and it was nice to see how his thinking and writing held up and portrayed multiple different generations.

The pacing was solid and never seemed to drag, and I appreciated the in-depth interviews they did with a couple of his close friends. It was great to see lots of archival footage of Wolfe himself, and in general it was well-filmed and well-edited. The documentary is not ham-handed in its opinions and leaves the viewer to draw his or her own conclusion.

Definitely worth watching if you are into documentaries or Wolfe's writing!

This story bends over backwards to brand Wolfe a 'radical'. He was an alternative thinker and writer, but he also embraced certain conservative values. He was a true Virginia Genltleman. The fact that this doc does not even mention his undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University, and goes out of its way to impress the facade that the entirety of his education was in New Haven at Yale is absurdly disingenuous and purposely misleading. Wolfe was incredibly proud of Washington and Lee. He was on the Board of Trustees. He spoke there often. It was a huge part of his writing and the fact that this doc just white washes an institution he absolutely revered is incredibly shameful.

The impact that words carry can be tremendous, sometimes powerful enough to change everyday speech, the nature of literature and even an entire culture. And, in many cases, those shifts can be traced back to the musings of gifted, insightful individuals. That's where author Tom Wolfe (1930-2018) enters, stage left, as seen in this new documentary from director Richard Dewey, based on a Vanity Fair article by author Michael Lewis. Wolfe, a onetime newspaper reporter, made his mark beginning in the 1960s with an Esquire magazine article about southern California's hot rod and custom car culture that turned conventional journalism on its ear. Almost overnight, he became a New York and national media sensation, introducing what he called "the new journalism," a practice of writing and reporting that called for drawing upon all of the literary tools available to authors of all stripes in the penning of nonfiction works, a move aimed at eliminating much of what he saw as the tiresome tedium that had come to characterize most of such pieces. Before long, over the next several decades, he established a reputation for cutting-edge writing through various magazine articles and such books as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers, The Right Stuff and From Bauhaus to Our House. He subsequently went on to release novels like The Bonfire of the Vanities and Man in Full. And several of these titles were even adapted as motion pictures, clips from which are liberally featured in this film biography. In addition to his prolific bibliography, Wolfe also distinguished himself as a character unto himself, a transplanted polite Southern gentleman and flamboyant sartorial dandy who could cut people to the quick with the stroke of his pen and wasn't afraid of tackling controversial subjects that many of his contemporaries would never touch. His story is told in an admittedly somewhat conventional but exceedingly well-defined, economical, briskly paced manner, featuring interviews with those who knew him and admirers who savor his work, as well as archive footage of the author himself from many well-known media vehicles of his time. "Radical Wolfe" is an insightful and entertaining celebration of the writer's life and work without ever gushing and never shying away from portraying him warts and all. Wolfe took New York literary society and the country by storm with his singular way with words, the kind of unabashed, articulate, inventive scribe we could use more of these days.

Greetings again from the darkness. There have been many great writers over the years, yet only a handful of these have become celebrities themselves ... in contrast to celebrities who become "writers". Tom Wolfe was one whose personality was as big (sometimes larger) than his books. Sporting the trademark white suits that had him labeled "a dandy", making frequent talk show appearances and numerous public book readings and speeches, Wolfe achieved the celebrity status that evidently was important to him. Richard Dewey's documentary is based on the "Vanity Fair" article written by Michael Lewis ("Moneyball", "The Big Short", "The Blind Side"), who also appears on screen here providing insight into Wolfe the writer and Wolfe the man.

Dewey presents a pretty basic chronological biography of this man whose mastery of word usage has led him to be recognized for introducing some familiar phrases into the language. These include: "the right stuff", "good ol' boy", and "the Me decade". Wolfe penned many bestsellers across multiple genres, as well as countless articles and essays with his observations and commentary on society and counterculture. Some of his most famous works are "The Right Stuff" (adapted into an exceptional 1983 film), "The Bonfire of the Vanities" (adapted into a regretful 1990 DePalma flop), and "A Man in Full". It's that latter 1998 novel that kicked off the high-profile literary feud between Wolfe and rival writers John Updike, Norman Mailer, and John Irving.

Wolfe's background as a newspaper journalist certainly contributed to his long-standing commitment to research and details. Among those interviewed here and speaking to his expertise are Gay Talese, Christopher Buckley, Tom Junod, and the aforementioned Michael Lewis. Also included are numerous clips of Wolfe's TV appearances, and even comments from his daughter, Alexandra. Talese in particular captures the essence of Wolfe when he describes him as (something along the lines of) an extremely polite man who transitions into a terrorist with a pen in hand. Not many can be described as an elegant gentleman AND with adjectives such as cynical, mean, outlandish, and contrarian. Tom Wolfe can ... and has been.

As a writer, Wolfe turned his focus on Black Panthers, Leonard Bernstein, astronauts, New York City, Junior Johnson's NASCAR, and Ken Kesey's LSD hippie counterculture. Sure, he was often criticized for his use of exclamation points and ellipses (a habit we share), yet he was also behind "New Journalism", aka literary journalism - making stories more interesting to read. He suffered through depression after a heart attack, but the man did things with words most of us can only dream of. Tom Wolfe passed away in 2018 at age 88, but his white suit lives on in images, and magical words live on through publications. For a man who adored adoration, he would likely be fine with that.

The film will debut in limited theaters beginning September 15, 2023.