Live from Baghdad
December. 07,2002
A group of CNN reporters wrestle with journalistic ethics and the life-and-death perils of reporting during the Gulf War.A Directors Guild Award-winning movie for director Mick Jackson, starring Michael Keaton and Helena Bonham Carter. In 1990, CNN was a 24-hour news network in search of a 24-hour story. They were about to find it in Baghdad. Veteran CNN producer Robert Wiener and his longtime producing partner Ingrid Formanek find themselves in Iraq on the eve of war. Up against the big three networks, Weiner and his team are rebels with a cause, willing to take risks to get the biggest stories and - unlike their rivals - take them live at a moment's notice. As Baghdad becomes an inevitable US target, one by one the networks pull out of the city until only the crew from CNN remains. With a full-scale war soon to be launched all around them, and CNN ready to broadcast whatever happens 24 hours a day, Wiener and Formanek are about to risk their lives for the story of a lifetime.
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Reviews
It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Mick Jackson's Critical Darling 'Live from Baghdad' is an Awesome watch. A brutal look at Iraq during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, comes a film that's hard to forget. And Michael Keaton, One Of THE Best Actors in Cinema, Is In Top Form! 'Live from Baghdad' Synopsis: A group of CNN reporters wrestle with journalistic ethics and the life-and-death perils of reporting during the Gulf War.The Persian Gulf War in 1991, was a human-study. It was calculative, manipulative & aggressive. Robert Wiener, Richard Chapman & John Patrick Shanley's Screenplay is Taut & Unforgettable. It delivers a path-breaking story & uses a brutal history piece as its wallpaper. Mick Jackson's Direction is Razor-Sharp. Cinematography is excellent. Editing is good. Performance-Wise: Michael Keaton as Robert Wiener, is masterful. Keaton sinks his teeth into the part & performs with flying colors. Helena Bonham Carter is magnificent, as usual. Paul Guilfoyle is first-rate. Michael Cudlitz is quite natural. Lili Taylor & Bruce McGill are adequate. On the whole, 'Live from Baghdad' is Bloody Good! Strongly Recommended!
I guess this is a story based on real characters. You would have to be a real news junkie to say for sure, but I seem to recognize many aspects of the story as real history. And there is some real journalism history that shows up as news items in this movie. Sometimes journalism is news too.But history is the only worthwhile story here offered up by the script. Dialog is very weak and our two lead actors clearly have a hard time with it.Way down in the credits here at IMDB is David Suchet who plays Naji Al-Nadithi, a contact with the Iraqi ministry of information. He is only the actor who seems to have any fun with his part. I remember him from the excellent spy thriller, "The Falcon and the Snowman".
The movie was written by the main character and his heroic battle for good, ethical journalistic coverage in the outbreak of a war. He's portrayed as movie-flawed (likes vodka) but a good person and goshdarnit, a damned fine journalist. That's how the writer portrays himself. And that indicates the veracity of many of the other "factual" events in the movie. Others have spelled out the errors so I will not reiterate. Funny that a journalist who apparently thinks that he's among the best and the bravest chose not nonfiction to tell his story, but made up a story to tell us. I also have a minor issue with women wearing more make-up than drag queens in impossible situations like wars. I mean, I thought we left that silly movie practice in the 80s. What if the story broke and you had only one eye finished????
"Live From Baghdad" is all about CNN producer Robert Weiner in the days leading up to the US bombing of Iraq from his behind-the-scenes Baghdad perspective. The film sticks little known Weiner out front and tries to build drama around his character but fails to deliver a human story as it ricochets off such issues as the emotional bond with a professional kindred (Bonham Carter); the blurring of the line between journalistic ethics and professional fervor; a producer's egotistical self interest endangering other correspondents and crew; and the whole Iraq perspective. What could have been real meat on this skeleton succumbs to shallow dramatic flair, lots of busy work, Keaton's too glib cuteness, etc. leaving just so much couch potato carrion. Nonetheless, this commercial for CNN from corporate sibling HBO will likely prove an adequate watch for the weary cable viewer. (C+)
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