You Get to Be in the Room Where it Happens
For anyone familiar with the smash Broadway show Hamilton, to be in, "the room where it happens," means to be where decisions get made. In Weiner, the fly-on-the-wall documentary that chronicles former congressman Anthony Weiner's 2013 run for mayor of New York City, this means being there not when important policy matters are settled, but rather when a campaign implodes in the midst of a sex scandal. Weiner isn't about politics, and that's why it works so well.
When filmmakers Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg began shooting their documentary, they, like Weiner, probably thought it would be a comeback story. In the film's stylish opening credits, designed to look like an evolving internet narrative, Weiner's passionate service as a New York congressman and his resignation due to his original sexting scandal are covered before catching up with Weiner and his wife as they prepare to launch his mayoral campaign. Even in this accelerated fall from grace primer on the man—which includes a clip of Weiner vehemently condemning Republicans for opposing a 9/11 first responders health bill—it's clear that he's a fighter. He's the flawed hero of this story, and it makes him and the documentary more engaging on a human level. You want to root for Anthony Weiner, even when you know what's yet to come.
Kriegman and Steinberg follow the self-deprecating Weiner through every stage of his campaign; opening an office, making fundraising calls, getting a staff together, canvassing, making appearances throughout the city, and eventually conceding. From day one it's clear that Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin—a longtime aide to and friend of Hillary Clinton—is his political partner on the campaign, helping out where she can and wants to while looking to reboot her family's public life. Like Hillary to Bill Clinton, Huma is a balancing presence for her charismatic spouse, and is her own force to be reckoned with, even as she is more often than not a background player in the film.
When Weiner's new sexting scandal emerges, at a time when he's leading in the Democratic primary polls, he becomes only more interesting to observe. His interactions with Abedin are strained but, when relating to the campaign, professional. Weiner doesn't get to the root of its subject's problems, and it's clear he may not even fully understand them, but like the man himself the filmmakers don't try to hide anything. Weiner may spin his answers to the press, but he keeps most of his answers to his staff and wife on the level.
As a politician, Anthony Weiner is honest where it counts (his private life may be a different matter), and that makes him a fascinating politico to put under a microscope. The filmmakers certainly don't paint Winer as a saint, though they clearly respect him. Though Weiner doesn't chronicle the comeback the subject or filmmakers likely intended, it does reach a level of intimacy allowing Weiner to be far more than a man on the stump or a joke in Jay Leno's monologue. Kriegman and Steinberg make their film a universal picture of an embattled politician, reminding us of the humanity behind scandals, even if the culprits aren't as likable (and possibly redeemable) as Anthony Weiner.