Where's My Roy Cohn?

At the time of my review (February 2020) the IMDB score is 6.2/10 which is unfair; it should be much higher. The rating of 6.2 is due to angry republicans upset at the connections made to their heroes Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and others. You may disagree with the conclusion; which is hard to do because these are all facts and all this happened as detailed; but if you don't agree with the conclusions drawn it is wrong to write a review and give it a low rating. This film is balanced and interviews people who liked Roy Cohn and thought he was a great guy. The film tries to find answers to why he was so successful and why people gravitated to him. It's balanced and nuanced. It is well written, well researched, and easy to watch. It's interesting, it's good, I score it 8/10. No way in any universe is this film a 3/10. Only for someone upset with the conclusions and lashing out in anger with ad hominem attacks. If you can get the DVD watch the Q&A with the director and producer in the bonus features. I'm glad I found out about this film and that I was able to watch it.

This is a fascinating documentary of Roy Cohn, a New York power broker and uber lawyer, whose adversary, legal or otherwise, you didn't want to be. We see some of the history of the 20th century as Cohn was involved in the Rosenberg's trial ("I would have pulled the switch if they'd let me"), the Army-McCarthy hearings which ushered the downfall of McCarthyism (Cohn was chief Counsel to Senator McCarthy), and numerous mob trials, including the notorious John Gotti, where - no surprise - Cohn pleaded for the mobsters. The film shows an earlier interview with Cohn where this legal barracuda says: "in our adversary system, the lawyer's job is to win, and to win he should try anything that works" (paraphrase). Accordingly, when a certain landlord and his son were sued by the Justice department for racial discrimination, they hired Cohn who promptly counter-sued the Feds for $100 M. This was the lesson Cohn gave the landlord's young son: you never give in, you never admit you're wrong, you go on the offensive and attack your adversaries in any way you can.

I happened to remember seeing "Citizen Cohn," a docudrama (HBO - 1992), where Cohn's confrontational manner was fostered by his wealthy, hard-bitten mother who dominated her weaker husband. This documentary, on the other hand, seems to emphasize Cohn's mother doting on him as well as his affection for her. I'm no psychologist but perhaps Cohn's aggressive manner was fostered by his absurd attempts to hide his homosexuality, when everyone knew it, up to his death from AIDs (which he called liver cancer). Another fascinating item from this doc was how this aggressive, seemingly unlikable man had scores of friends among New York society. I guess power is a seductive agent.

I have to mention before my closing paragraph in this review that the editing and research in this film were outstanding.

Cohn cloaked himself as a great American patriot which is hard to square with his famous comment (also depicted in the film) that: "my goal is to die with no money and owing the IRS millions." Another self-styled patriot, who's a friend neither of taxes or revealing how much he pays, gave us the title of this film, since when this political "personality" was confronted with the Mueller probe and was displeased with the aggressiveness of his lawyers (Rudy Giuliani!), he is supposed to have said: "where's my Roy Cohn?" Obviously, this individual mentored by the notorious Roy Cohn, resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

While I DID SEE THE Army- McCarthy Hearing on tv in 1953 I did not know of Roy Cohn's later deeds and misdeeds, since I had left NYC. It was eye opening to see that such worthies as Barbara Walters, Ronald Reagan, Ed Koch, and even Cardinal Spellman were in his corner and his cronies. Learned a lot about our urban elites, quite different from what I had thought. And the way Donald Trump modeled his life on Cohn, including the weird family influences, was most welcome..

"Where Is My Roy Cohn?" is a documentary about (in)famous lawyer and fixer Roy Cohn. As the movie opens, we get a general introduction to Cohn: "His contempt for the law was clear", and then "I don't car what the law is, I want to know who the judge is". We then go to "1951", when as a 23 yr. lawyer, Cohn becomes Chief Counsel for the (jn)famous McCarthy Committee and its relentless chasing of communists (real or perceived)... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the 'plot' would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from director Matt Tyrnauer, whi in the last couple of years gave us excellent documentaries like "Citizen Jane" and "Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood". Here the director examines a well-know public figure, Roy Cohn, who became a much feared lawyer (fist in public service, then in private practice). Along the way he becomes a larger than life "fixer" of everything and anyone. "No matter what, always claim victory, and never apologize", was Cohn's favorite mantra. Sounds familiar? A young Donald Trump eagerly learns from Cohn and in fact Trump is featured extensively in the film. This movie is not a flattering or admiring portrait of Cohn (on the contrary, Cohn comes across as a stone cold sleezebag, albeit a very samr one). But I must admit that the documentary is well crafted and the time just flew by. Incidentally, the movie's title is of course a quote from Trump, when the Russia investgation exploded and Trump mutters to no-one in particular but himself "Where is my Roy Cohn?", as apparently Trump wishes he had a fixer of the caliber of Cohn, never mind the ethics or legality of it all. (And Giuliani only wishes he could be a fixer at the level of Cohn.)

The documentary recently opened, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Saturday matinee screening where I saw this at was not attended well (exactly 6 people, including myself). That's a shame. Hopefully this will find a larger audience as it expands onto other platforms. Meaning, if you have any interest in politics, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

I never knew him coming from Asian Country. I started to be fascinated with 80's New York after watching Studio 54 and the hike of Aids. His story caught me. The cinematography was good and it gives more dramatic but insightful about his vile life. A fascinating revelation from his family intriguing. Theres something about him makes you think about did he really lived a life good or was he wasted it?

He might be the most manipulative and evil person I've known. He hid everything because he was a coward who couldnt accept truth. I wonder now if he have lived what else he couldve done. All his effort and hardwork just thrown away because of his vile intention and manipulation.