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The film recounts the ten debates between William F. Buckley,Jr. and Gore Vidal since 1968 in ABC News. The film also takes a closer look at their subsequent thoughts and action on their following articles.
What followed [in the debates] was not so much a clash of well-articulated ideas as a clash of highly articulate persons who regarded ideas as ammunition.
If even these two witty, well-educated, well-mannered men of letters couldn't keep their on-air interactions from degenerating into cheap shots and name-calling, who could?
There is something about the siren call of the TV camera that can turn even big thinkers into brawlers. It was true then and it's true now, and "Best of Enemies" serves as a thoroughly enjoyable reminder.
Simultaneously documenting the on-and-off air sparring matches for audiences too young to remember them, but also chart their place in the history of modern political discourse make this a nourishing and entertaining documentary.
This doc about the 10-night series, directed by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville (who won an Oscar last year for Twenty Feet From Stardom), provides an entertaining and, ultimately, depressing peek into TV at a pivotal moment.