Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story

I was all waiting for 'Rudy' which profiled mostly the latter years of Rudolph Guliani to be mostly a puff piece, since I have seen the (excellent) critical documentary on him, Guliani Time. But actually, I was quite pleasantly surprised at how balanced this seemed to be. While I'm some people are jumping up and down protesting that last comment, let me explain. I'm sure there are very very deep explanations about the flaws and mistakes Guliani made that were basically brushed over in this film, but really, with a 90 (??!??) minute time frame, how much info can you put in? This isn't a fluff piece, Guliani's mistakes, including his ridiculous womanizing, his almost fascist stance on crime, and his deep dark family past are all examined, and of course, that all disappeared when he was made into a National Hero because of 9/11. I mean, this is not the first time a guy with a dark history walked away a winner is it? The film itself looks amazing. I really like the mixture of video (for the 9/11 scenes) and film (for all the back story), it deftly cuts into stock footage seamlessly, and this looks quite amazing.

The only problem I have, believe it or not, is James Woods playing Rudy. Not that I don't consider him a fine actor (which of course I do) it's just that whenever I see him as Guliani, I see Roy Cohn. LOL

My main question regards the motivation behind this story. Firstly, does it aim to provide an informative account of Rudy or simply cash in on September 11? Moreover, if his biography is intended to be paramount , I am not sure whether it glorifies or condemn his character.

On the whole, i thought this movie was poor. The production values were terrible, to say the very least. As was the handling of the events of September 11. To include such emotive footage of that day is dangerous, especially when Rudy exclaims "what have these bastards done to my city?". From an objective standpoint this line was simply ectopic in the context of the movie, almost adding light to the situation. The following "women and children first" dialogue seems misplaced in the terror and hysteria of the situation.

I haven't seen all the movies he's been in, but this is the best James Woods since Citizen Cohen, I think.

The movie itself is compelling and is told in flashback form from I haven't seen all the movies he's been in, but this is the best James Woods since Citizen Cohen, I think.

The movie itself is compelling and is told in flashback form from September 11. It emphasis Giuliani's love for the law and for New York City.

As an American, it was hard to watch without having my tears jerked but that yet, I had to watch.

The performances by the other actors and actresses were all good too. Some people will say its a white wash but I felt it depicted Rudy Giuliani the man, his good side, his obsession with cleaning up NYC, hit temper, his marital infidelities, the horror of finding out his father was once arrested and jailed for armed robbery. They don't come much better then this.

Oh, I forgot, his love of opera. Its all in there.

I hope there will be a DVD release.

Rudy is the TV film shown recently on USA starring James Woods as Rudolph Giuliani. It begins on September 10th, 2001 and then when the tragedy hits we go to flashbacks starting in 1982 when Rudy was associate Attorney General. The back and forth between the present (September 11th) and his past is a hard to pull off editing job that works well.

The 911 scenes go back and forth between actual footage Woods' portrayal, which again is effective and realistic. To his credit Woods didn't try to assume the mannerisms of Rudy too much so avoided the danger of lapsing into parody, but rather played the role as intense high drama...which wasn't exactly appropriate to Rudy's more low key reality.

Other flashbacks we get are 1984 when he's the US Attorney in New York who cracks down on the Mafia, 1989 when he loses the Mayoral race to Dinkins, 1992 when he grandstands for racist cops, 1993 when he wins the Mayoral election, as well as his marriage and his 2 extramarital relationships.

Overall a sympathetic portrayal of 2 decades of public office which of course culminates in 911, which is really what most of the film appropriately points towards. You will come away respecting Rudy if perhaps not agreeing with him.

Finally it's significant that James Woods got this role, as he noticed the highjackers on previous "test flights" and he reported his suspicions to the flight attendant. He reported it to the FBI post-911 and they confirmed they were the highjackers on his flight.

The film is obvious a Hollywood capitalization on a persona. It is definitely overdramatized, but it does play out some of the more important moments in Giuliani's career. Consequently, if one has an even minute understanding of his political career, the film allows a person to reflect on it a bit more easily. This film is not a political analysis of any sort, nor is there a real vestige character portrayal. It's much more a docudrama than anything else, and that is to be expected from a "movie of the week."