Film Forum

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion – but not to his own facts.” – Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003). His aristocratic demeanor and Harvard polish belied Moynihan’s Depression-era roots in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen, the son of a single mother. Joseph Dorman (his documentary, ARGUING THE WORLD, which we opened in 1998, is a thrilling account of the 60-year battle among New York’s 20th century intellectuals), with co-filmmaker Toby Perl Freilich (INVENTING OUR LIFE: THE KIBBUTZ EXPERIMENT), now give us a portrait of a complex man who struggled to alleviate poverty and racism, but who was maligned for his use of the expression “benign neglect.” Ta-Nehisi Coates, Eleanor Holmes Norton, George Will, and Henry Kissinger give insight into this “connoisseur of statistics” who served four presidents, anticipated the breakup of the Soviet Union, and was as comfortable writing about philosophy, ethnicity, and architecture as he was rethinking the Social Security and welfare systems.

USA   2018   104  MINS.   FIRST RUN FEATURES

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Reviews

“Entertaining. Makes the case for Moynihan as a towering figure whose passion, wit and wonkiness now seem like precious qualities in governance. He was one of the last true New Deal Democrats… also a showman - and therefore a natural movie subject.”
- Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times

“Intelligently crafted. Enlightening. Joyously brings to life one of the most colorful, brainy characters in 20th-century American politics. Rewards attentive viewing with an abundance of fun-to-chew-on big ideas of contemporary political relevance.”
– Lisa Jo Sagolla, Film Journal

“A vivid portrait of the sort of politician we desperately need today... a brilliant and multi-faceted man of ideas who charmed his enemies as well as his friends. The recent Kavanaugh hearing debacle makes you wish that the film was on a permanent loop in the halls of Congress.”
- Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter

“[The] spirit of Daniel Patrick Moynihan gets the salute it deserves... a documentary that takes the full, fascinating measure of the charismatic maverick that Moynihan was.”
- Owen Gleiberman, Variety