Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer gets a chance to rehabilitate his tarnished reputation via this extended interview with filmmaker Stephen Trombley.
The presentation simultaneously gives the viewer too much information – particularly about the formative years of Spitzer’s life – and too little information – especially in regard to the bizarre call girl scandal that derailed his tenure as governor of New York. Spitzer takes advantage of his camera time to lob criticism at various political foes and media sources – in one strangely tactless moment, he dubs the Wall Street Journal “schizophrenic” for what he perceives as a disconnect between its news reporting and editorial page ruminations.
It is a shame that Spitzer could not have found a more visually progressive format to plead his case: Trombley’s static camera frames Spitzer is a badly lit close-up while the ex-politician presents passionless sound bites that recall his various experiences and observations. On one occasion, Spitzer’s talk is interrupted by the sounds of a siren blaring outside the room where the video was shot – Trombley abruptly stops the shot and then resumes after a clumsy edit.
But unlike the more visceral documentary “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer,” this effort is too bland and too safe for its own good, with the subject coming across as something of a bore. It would seem that Spitzer the scandal is far more interesting than Spitzer the man.
