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Weiner, Anthony Weiner. The Republican who clearly has some charisma – as we see him shout a lot in 2010 when the Republicans blocked healthcare for 9/11 emergency responders, but unfortunately for him, he chose to get out his own weiner, put it on Twitter, and initially refused to resign from his position in the House of Representatives. Finally cow-towing to demand, he caved in, in 2011, but then ran for New York Mayor in 2013, and this documentary follows that campaign.
We see him doing plenty of phone interviews, getting across that he tries to speak for all the people, although all politicians do that, and are almost always complete jokers when it comes to working for the people. I don’t know a great deal about the man other than his scandal, so I can’t comment on how effective he has ever been at his job.
He sent pictures of his privates under the name Carlos Danger because, as one TV pundit calls it, “he couldn’t use a ridiculous name like Anthony Weiner”. In addition, he had several dalliances while running for Mayor, as well as beforehand, he sexted a 22-year-old big-breasted lady with the improbable moniker of Sydney Leathers, who later sold her story.
Along the way, we get to experience the stress this puts on his wife, Huma Abedin, and how some voters think he should “pull out” of the race for Mayor (ahem). Ultimately, however, he’s always looking to lay the blame with someone else. However, it’s a huge crater of his own making.
I presume the title has been extended for TV from “Weiner” to “Weiner – Sexts, Scandals and Politics” so that it stands out to the average viewer in the schedules. It’s certainly worth a watch, if only to find out whether or not he becomes Mayor (so if you don’t know, do not Google it first), but it’s not brilliant.
Also, from September to October 2016, and since this film was released, the FBI looked into more of Hillary Clinton’s leaked emails after they were found on a laptop owned by her the husband of her aide. Her aide is Huma Abedin, and her husband is… yes, you guessed it, Anthony Weiner. How were the FBI drawn to this laptop? Because Weiner sent explicit pictures of himself to a 15yo girl. You really couldn’t make it up.
Weiner is broadcast tonight on BBC4 at 9pm as part of the Storyville season, after which it will be available on the BBC iPlayer until December 6th. It is also available to buy on DVD and Amazon Prime – the latter of which will show you his ‘weiner’ in HD. Also, click on the top-right image for the full-size version.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 96 minutes
Format: 1.78:1 (16:9)
BBC4 air date: November 6th 2016
Rating: 6/10
Directors: Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg
Producers: Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg
Screenplay: Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg and Eli B Despres
Music: Jeff Beal
Cast:
Himself: Anthony Weiner
Herself: Huma Abedin
Herself: Sydney Leathers
Himself: Adam S Barta
Himself: Dean Obeidallah
Himself: J Buzz Von Ornsteiner
Himself: Jordan Zain Weiner
Himself – Senior Advisor: Amit Bagga
Herself – Campaign Manager: Camille Joseph
Herself – Communications Director: Barbara Morgan
Himself – Campaign Aide: Andrew Noh
Herself – Senior Staffer: Maura Tracy
Himself (archive footage): Stephen Colbert
Himself (archive footage): Bill de Blasio
Himself (archive footage): Lawrence O’Donnell
Himself (archive footage): Howard Stern
Himself (archive footage): Jon Stewart
Himself (archive footage): Donald Trump
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.