Protraph Lack of good storyline.

ScoobyWell Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

asymptot A fascinating and in depth look and the Buckley-Vidal debates and the precursors to the world we find ourselves in today. More interesting since I lived through this period and watched these debates in real time. We find ourselves in a world today not much different than the world of 1968 on race, economic inequality,far right and far left politics and down in the mud politics that doesn't debate issues but personal demagoguery. Buckley ran for mayor of NYC and discovered the angry white man as his main constituency, sound familiar Donald J. Trump.

LeonLouisRicci Considered a Pivotal Political TV Event that immediately and irreversibly Changed the way Television covered Controversy with Confrontation. Specifically Politics, Social Studies, and National Philosophical Divides.William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal, two Popular and Influential Voices with Polarizing Opinions on just about everything, were Hired by ABC News to Flavor Their 1968 Convention Coverage to Opine on the "State of the Nation" and Connect it to the Republican/Democratic National Conventions.It was New, Captivating, and Exciting Live Programming. What wasn't known at the Time was just how much..."The Whole World is Watching"...Slogan would have Resonated even without this Breakthrough Televised Event, because on the Streets of Chicago and Bleeding onto the Convention Floor, the Massive Demonstration by Anti-War Protesters became a Spontaneous and Iconic Video Record of a Nation seemingly in a Nuclear Meltdown.It is not surprising the 9th Airing of the 10 Scheduled "Debates" that was Broadcast just after the Aforementioned Police-Demonstrators Confrontation, would Result in a Meltdown of its own. Gore Vidal called Buckley a "Crypto or Neo Nazi" and Buckley, Outraged, and on Live TV shouted..."Listen you Queer, stop calling me a Nazi or I'll punch you in the Goddam face..."The Documentary Centers around those Personal Attacks and the Ramifications and Confrontations between the Two that continued till "Death Put Them Apart." But it also Contains Footage Before and After and in a Limited Contextual Framework, the State of the Country on the" Left" and the "Right" at the Time.Highly Recommended.Note…The complete footage of all 10 Televised Debates is on YouTube.

Turfseer Co-directed by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville, Best of Enemies chronicles the series of televised debates during the 1968 Republican and Democratic National Conventions, between conservative and liberal pundits, William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal.Television convention coverage was usually a staid affair, but Buckley and Vidal set the tone for years to come by going "mano a mano"— perhaps the first time commentators of such different political persuasions presented such stark differences of opinion in a remarkably entertaining fashion. Indeed, ABC, considered the "poor man's network" at the time (in contrast to powerhouses CBS and NBC), garnered such favorable ratings, that we're informed by Gordon and Neville that television was "never the same" after the broadcast of these imbroglios.Buckley, fairly well-known for his Firing Line show on PBS and Vidal, the noted author of various biographical novels of notable American politicians as well as other historical figures, both shared elite prep school backgrounds as well as being masters of the English language. One is struck however, by the true lack of substance as they grapple with the political issues of the day. Instead, each engages in a game of one-upmanship, trading cutting insults in order to humiliate one another. The debate finally takes an ugly turn when Vidal manages to push Buckley's buttons—calling him a crypto-Nazi and praising the protesters who waved the Vietcong flag and cursed the police outside the Democratic National Convention. Buckley, usually proud of his self-control, suddenly loses it and calls Vidal a "queer" and threatens to punch him in the face. While Vidal argues that the protesters had a perfect right to "free speech," Buckley regards their actions as the deepest betrayal to their country.The documentarians supplement the footage of the actual debate with newsroom out takes along with commentary from supporters and detractors of the two men including Christopher Hitchens, Dick Cavett and James Wolcott.Buckley is seen much later in life being interviewed, indicating that he was tired of life in general and "ready to die." While being interviewed by Ted Koppel, Buckley is stunned as he watches footage from the debates where he calls Vidal a "queer." After the footage is shown, he remarks to a friend that he thought that segment had been destroyed long ago. And Vidal appears equally obsessed with the debates, poring over them repeatedly at his Italian villa, much like an obsessed Norma Desmond watching her old silent pictures in "Sunset Boulevard."While Best of Enemies proves to be vastly entertaining, it's also a cautionary tale about two extremely gifted men who forgot to embrace humor to soften the vitriol between them. In that respect, their ultimate clash on television, should be seen much more in the context of tragedy than mere entertainment or what some others may label as a comic interlude.

Mary Mangan Whoa. It's like time travel, into the recent past, but that so clearly laid the path to our current state of drama and politics. The historical framing is helpful and contextual. And of course the cat-fights are fascinating. But the most compelling part is how this relationship between two American Brahmins was putting the foundation in place for the framework we have today, with intractable polarization and he said/he said political commentary. It manages to consist of both sepia-toned nostalgia and contemporary issues that remain hot-buttons today. While others--like queer lifestyles--are clearly accepted in the mainstream. Mesmerizing.