LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED.Ā
After the 2016 presidential election, it only seemed logical to see a documentary about the shameless Republican strategist Roger Stone ā getting Donald Trump into the White House was after all his greatest triumph. This portrait shows us how he first became involved in high-level politics during the Nixon era, eventually figuring out how to become the king of the D.C. swamp, using every dirty trick in the book to influence voters. Stone is very proud of his achievements and apologizes for nothing; after a scandal in the ā90s this colorful character clawed his way back, saw Trumpās potential and helped push the GOP farther to the right. Skilfully directed, this documentary is an entertaining and depressing look at the damage one man can do to a national movement.
2017-U.S. 92 min. Color. Produced byĀ Daniel DiMauro, Kara Elverson, Shirel Kozak, Frank Morano, Morgan Pehme, Fredrik Stanton. Written and directed byĀ Dylan Bank, Daniel DiMauro, Morgan Pehme.
Trivia: First shown at Tribeca, then released on Netflix.
Last word:Ā “Roger knows what heās doing in the sense that his embrace of infamy lends itself to allowing liberal writers, or in this case liberal filmmakers, to profile him. This approach that ‘no press is bad press’ comes directly from his mentor Roy Cohn. Exposure, either negative or positive, increases his brand ā it adds to the legend of Roger Stone and how heās made a place for himself in the annals of our political history.” (DiMauro, The Hollywood Reporter)