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Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 16 critic reviews
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by: Stefan Forbes
Directed by: Stefan Forbes
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 26, 2008
Running Time: 86 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Boogie Man is a comprehensive look at Lee Atwater, the blues-playing rogue whose rambunctious rise from the South to Chairman of the GOP made him a household name. He mentored Karl Rove and George W. Bush and played a crucial role in the elections of Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He wrote the Republican Party’s winning playbook which the McCain campaign is currently using. (Interpositive Media)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
San Francisco Chronicle Steve Winn
For a film that depends so heavily on talking heads, it has both a dramatic arc and a sense of character development.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
A fascinating portrait of an almost likable rogue. You'd rather spend time with him than a lot of more upstanding citizens.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
If you want to hear juicy inside tales of the scams devised by Lee Atwater, the right-wing visionary of media-age dirty tricks, you'll find loads of them in Boogie Man.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis
Generous in spirit and nimble in technique, this riveting documentary about the Republican operative (who died of a brain tumor in 1991) reveals a scrappy genius rife with contradictions.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Gary Goldstein
A hugely entertaining, efficiently crafted documentary about a ruthless, if undeniably clever, American political force.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Boogie Man doesn't delve too deep into its subject's private life, beyond some cheap psychology positing his brother's horrible early death as the root of his winner-takes-all philosophy. But then, Atwater's work was his life.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Director Stefan Forbes interviews a slew of victims and beneficiaries of the Atwater attack machine and, in the process, gives us an even-handed portrait of a man who, as much as anybody, bears responsibility for the toxicity of high stakes political campaigning on both sides of the aisle.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves
By the end of Forbes' brisk, economical portrait, Atwater has been revealed as a repugnant and pathetic soul--and a political visionary, among the first to fully understand and harness the raw power of voters’ fears.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
Boogie Man is nonetheless required viewing for anyone obsessed with the 2008 race.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Stan Hall
Not the stuff of greatness, but you couldn't ask for a better time to see it.
Read Full Review >Variety Robert Koehler
Deeply influential, even to his enemies, Atwater's career is viewed here with fascination and some sympathy.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ella Taylor
Less persuasive is Forbes's perfunctory, psychologically thin rummage through Atwater's childhood for a traumatic event that would explain his utter ruthlessness.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Mark Feeney
If there were a liberal equivalent to Fox News (no, not MSNBC, which is so much milk-fed veal to Rupert Murdoch's steak tartare), Boogie Man is the sort of programming it would thrive on.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
This talking-heads documentary by Stefan Forbes doesn't waste much time delving into Atwater's misshapen character; instead it focuses on his South Carolina roots and his instinctive grasp of the southern strategy that's been the GOP's key to the White House for the past 40 years.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Justin Lowe
While Atwater exerted notable influence on contemporary politics, this account of his career doesn't make for particularly absorbing viewing.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
A documentary that uses against Atwater images of lynch mobs, decades-old racist comments of his onetime boss Strom Thurmond, and a clip of Bryant Gumbel calling him "the architect of the evil campaign."
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 0.0 (out of 10) based on 0 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
