Watch Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story For Free

Good movie but grossly overrated

Expected more

Absolutely the worst movie.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Not all biographical films on politicians are made equal. Some try to tell a sprawling tale of someone's political life, such as Oliver Stone with his Nixon and W, while others capture a momentous slice of an historical event, such as Roger Donaldson's Thirteen Days which was gripping from start to end. Then there are those like Rudy, which tries to do both, but don't really get there, undoubtedly having the story mooted since Rudy Giuliani (James Woods) was the mayor of New York during the fateful event of September 11 2011, and having this film weave a glimpse of his political career culminating in that horrendous disaster.Granted this had a limited budget, and in many ways that showed in the film, having some scenes crafted in sparse studios, although looking like a million dollars when Robert Dornhel, whose experience and filmography point to a lot of made for television films which this one also belonged to, had deliberately opted for the documentary look and feel for the event of September 11. Everything else looked indoors and not on location, removing that sense of authenticity of filming it all in the Big Apple.There's also very little on his political and professional career before Mayorship, and what I thought was a very interesting bit in his life during his Attorney General days as he locked horns with the mafia, was grossly glossed over, which was a pity because there's so much narrative potential there to be explored, but I guess writer Stanley Weiser, who based this film on the book by Wayne Barrett, didn't find it interesting enough for a big screen treatment. Much instead is preferred to focus on the man's incredibly bad temper behind closed doors, demonstrating that Giuliani is a man who doesn't mince his words, and shoots very fast from the hip without due care whether it'll hurt anyone at all with his pointed, loud barbs.With 9/11 stock footage mixed with its own documentary presentation, the story unfolds in flashbacks, as we glimpse into Rudy's marriage to newscaster Donna Hanover (Penelope Ann Miller) who had once interviewed him and begun a whirlwind romance, before his suspected infidelities and indiscretion led to breakdowns in both his marriage and almost always threatening his political career, isolating him from strong, key advisers who don't quite see eye to eye with his blind trust of his communications director. I suppose Robert Dornhelm prefers to tell the age old story of how the strong almost always fall prey to the advances of the fairer sex, and in some ways become the seeds to their downfall, in more ways than one.James Woods puts in a riveting performance as the go-getter in the titular character, but ultimately got let down by the weak narrative that didn't get to dig deeper into what made the man, skimming only on the surface and focused on his anger management issues. Supporting cast didn't outside Woods in his role, and that may be attributed to the more caricature like treatment the supporting characters had to deal with since a biopic that's about 90 minutes long doesn't leave a lot of room for the spotlight to be shared with others.For a man who was to provide a leadership beacon in what would be one of the most tragic terrorist attacks in human history, Rudy had all the potential to paint a more complex, detailed picture of just who the man was, someone whom most had seen on their television screens in the aftermath of that attack, but you're likely to come out from this just a wee bit more knowledgeable about the man himself, if at all, no thanks to its summarizing of key milestones in the man's life, and the indecision to just want to focus on an episode, or be a little bit more ambitious to cover a whole lot of ground.

Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story (2003)emerged from the ashes of the world trade centre to less than positive reviews. Yet if there were a man who deserves credit for holding the country together at that difficult moment it was Rudy Giuliani. And this movie covers the pluses and the minuses of his administration.The whole sequence of 9 - 11 is a difficult subject matter to approach because it reveals flaws in the US system and the American personality. Lets go back to 9 - 11 at 9, the person who calls himself the war president, a man who had come to power in a cloudy election which bordered on a coup d'etat vanished into the mist. Rudy Giuliani grabbed the microphones and held the nation together. What kind of man does that? Is he a good family man? Well, no. While he was mayor he was carrying on an affair with a staffer whom he appointed a Commissioner. He put her aside and took on another girlfriend. His incumbent wife learned of his plans to divorce her from the newspapers. Still another former wife was on the payroll in the Park's Department.Did he come from good family? Well, not exactly. Though famed as a crime fighter, Rudy acknowledged his father had done time.Did he act sensibly and with restraint? Perhaps not. Though Rudy is much lauded for a crack down on the Mafia, city police were in fact arresting bicyclists for failing to carry identification and other picayune infractions.Were his police effective and well disciplined? Well no. The Finest as shown in this movie gunned down a Bronx householder who was attempting to show identification. The movie didn't talk about the other well known transgression of morality, a sexual assault apparently sanctioned by an entire precinct.However, the man of the moment on 9 - 11 was Big Rudy and for all the ill that can be said of him he deserves credit for his actions that day. James woods captures the man and the moment in a grand eloquent performance.

Rudy is the TV film shown recently on USA starring James Woods as Rudolph Giuliani. It begins on September 10th, 2001 and then when the tragedy hits we go to flashbacks starting in 1982 when Rudy was associate Attorney General. The back and forth between the present (September 11th) and his past is a hard to pull off editing job that works well. The 911 scenes go back and forth between actual footage Woods' portrayal, which again is effective and realistic. To his credit Woods didn't try to assume the mannerisms of Rudy too much so avoided the danger of lapsing into parody, but rather played the role as intense high drama...which wasn't exactly appropriate to Rudy's more low key reality. Other flashbacks we get are 1984 when he's the US Attorney in New York who cracks down on the Mafia, 1989 when he loses the Mayoral race to Dinkins, 1992 when he grandstands for racist cops, 1993 when he wins the Mayoral election, as well as his marriage and his 2 extramarital relationships. Overall a sympathetic portrayal of 2 decades of public office which of course culminates in 911, which is really what most of the film appropriately points towards. You will come away respecting Rudy if perhaps not agreeing with him. Finally it's significant that James Woods got this role, as he noticed the highjackers on previous "test flights" and he reported his suspicions to the flight attendant. He reported it to the FBI post-911 and they confirmed they were the highjackers on his flight.

I haven't seen all the movies he's been in, but this is the best James Woods since Citizen Cohen, I think.The movie itself is compelling and is told in flashback form from I haven't seen all the movies he's been in, but this is the best James Woods since Citizen Cohen, I think.The movie itself is compelling and is told in flashback form from September 11. It emphasis Giuliani's love for the law and for New York City.As an American, it was hard to watch without having my tears jerked but that yet, I had to watch.The performances by the other actors and actresses were all good too. Some people will say its a white wash but I felt it depicted Rudy Giuliani the man, his good side, his obsession with cleaning up NYC, hit temper, his marital infidelities, the horror of finding out his father was once arrested and jailed for armed robbery. They don't come much better then this.Oh, I forgot, his love of opera. Its all in there.I hope there will be a DVD release.