Best of Enemies

"Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same."

2015 1h 27m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 151

DocumentaryHistory

Synopsis

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A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"

“Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same.”

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Cast

Gore Vidal
Self
William F. Buckley Jr.
Self
Kelsey Grammer
Voice of William F. Buckley
John Lithgow
Voice of Gore Vidal
Dick Cavett
Self
Christopher Hitchens
Self
Noam Chomsky
Self (archival)
Reid Buckley
Self

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Gordon
Writers: Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

87 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Gordon, shot by David Leonard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jonathan Kirkscey. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Aaron Wickenden shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr. and Kelsey Grammer carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Gordon directs. David Leonard behind the camera. Jonathan Kirkscey scores. Aaron Wickenden cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Released 11 years ago.
4Directed by Robert Gordon, shot by David Leonard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Jonathan Kirkscey. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Aaron Wickenden shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr. and Kelsey Grammer carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same.".
9IMDB entry: tt3518012 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 9 themes, including "chicago, illinois", "miami, florida", "politics", "intellectual".

The technical file

Cinematography: David Leonard
Original score: Jonathan Kirkscey
Editing: Aaron Wickenden
Runtime: 87 min · 1h 27m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,000,000
Original language: EN
IMDB: Best of Enemies (2015)

Also by

Robert Gordon

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Community reviews

What people are saying

rsanek2021-04-11
★ 7/10
Interesting watch. Vidal's name was recognizable to me but I had never really known how successful he was as a author (and playwright!). It is interesting to see how profit-seeking capitalism in media (in this case TV, but now also on social media platforms) really incentivizes content that is belligerent and argumentative. I have a hard time believing that anyone would say that this is the ideal stuff to be consuming, and yet nothing is done to change the status quo. The last part of the film was perhaps the most enjoyable for me, where we watch as Buckley wrestles with a statement he made in the debates for seemingly the rest of his life.

Production companies