I had never
heard of Morton Downey Jr. prior to watching this documentary. I grew up in the
1980s, but my parents restricted what I watched and I can’t imagine I would
have cared about the right-wing agenda of his show anyway. With that being
said, I could not have been more fascinated with the documentary about this
bizarre ego-maniac.
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
follows the sudden rise and sudden fall of Morton Downey’s late-night talk show
which paved the way for people like Jerry Springer under the guise of
patriotism. What becomes truly clear about the man, however, is that he enjoyed
the spotlight and fame far more than anything he was doing to achieve it.
Prior to his talk show and political
convictions, Morton Downey Jr. attempted to match his father’s success as a
singer. When he becomes famous for his political tripe, it almost appears to
simply be another way for him to absorb as much attention as possible. The more
we discover about the man that he truly was, the more of a phony his persona
appears to be. Given the title “Father of Trash Television,” Downey Jr. had a
studio audience to help him bully guests until nobody but strippers would agree
to make an appearance. This is how we ended up with Jerry Springer, apparently.
The Blu-ray release includes a number
of special features for fans of the subject and documentary alike. There are
memorable moments from the famed talk show, as well as a featurette on the
film’s animation sequences, and a commentary track with directors Seth Kramer,
Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 7/10
Disc Features: 8/10
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