Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer Image
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Metascore
68 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

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  • Starring: Eliot Spitzer
  • Summary: This documentary feature takes an in-depth look at the rapid rise and dramatic fall of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Nicknamed "The Sheriff of Wall Street," when he was NY's Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer prosecuted crimes by America’s largest financial institutions and some of the most t powerful executives in the country. After his election as Governor, with the largest margin in the state's history, many believed Spitzer was on his way to becoming the nation's first Jewish President. Then, shockingly, Spitzer’s meteoric rise turned into a precipitous fall when the New York Times revealed that Spitzer - the paragon of rectitude - had been caught seeing prostitutes. As his powerful enemies gloated, his supporters questioned the timing of it all: as the Sheriff fell, so did the financial markets, in a cataclysm that threatened to unravel the global economy. With unique access to the escort world as well as friends, colleagues and enemies of the ex-Governor (many of whom have come forward for the first time) the film explores the hidden contours of this tale of hubris, sex, and power. (Magnolia Pictures)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 24
  3. Negative: 2 out of 24
  1. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    Nov 11, 2010
    88
    Client 9 speaks plenty of truth - about politics, power, human nature - even if you don't buy into the hit-job hypothesis.
  2. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    Jan 13, 2011
    80
    No simple tabloid recap. Gibney applies himself to two mysteries, neither of which he unravels but both of which make for gripping cinema.
  3. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    Nov 5, 2010
    50
    If Client 9 plays a lot like a murky, gripping political thriller, it lacks a fully satisfying ending -- or a fully satisfying hero.
  4. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Vadim Rizov
    Nov 6, 2010
    30
    The case may be plausible, but Gibney's method - a singularly unimaginative trawl through archival footage and listlessly edited talking heads - is life-sapping to watch, and his editorial contributions laughably literal-minded.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. lancekoz
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The film is well-shot and paced, with lots of original sources speaking. The efforts of Spitzer to bring some fairness and justice to Wall Street and Albany are somewhat detailed, are fascinating and deserve a whole film of their own. It seems he was quite ahead of the curve in the matters of unregulated banking and investing gone wild and its ultimate effects on our economy. Depictions of the rise of the escort service that he was eventually linked to seems extraneous compared to the interesting evidence shown that the exposure of his activities outside marriage were driven by a high-tech lynch mob with deep Wall Street pockets. It is sad to see yet another example of how much influence the powerful and wealthy have over political and legal matters, but it was refreshing to see, at the end, how Spitzer is unusually gracious and unbitter in his mea culpa regarding the use of prostitutes.… Expand
  2. filmtrashreview
    7
    Highly democratic in nature, the film still gives a great timeline and portrait of what happened to Governor Spitzer. Many excuses are bright to the table but with Eliot on record in the documentary he owns up to all that was done in dramatic fashion.… Expand
  3. Duke
    5
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