Saturday, August 29, 2009

THE NINE LIVES OF MARION BARRY

THE NINE LIVES OF MARION BARRY is an HBO documentary about the former mayor of Washington DC. He's a fascinating character, and as such, it is an interesting viewing. Barry was repeatedly elected mayor, even after being convicted of drug use and having multiple affairs.

The film itself has problems. Although it was released this year, most of the recent footage is from 2004, when he was elected to the City Council. Shortly after that, he failed another drug test, yet was re-elected yet again. Very recently he had a charge against him from a woman who claimed he was stalking her. Most of the negatives of his career are glossed over, or left out completely, but those were the things that made him interesting. His lengthy tax problems are never mentioned in the film. Neither are most of his health problems, including a kidney transplant. It seems like they ran out of time or money to complete the film and just released it as is.

However, still an interesting watch.

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