Reviews

Buddy

A chronicle of Vincent "Buddy" Cianci's chaotic career

By PETER KEOUGH | June 13, 2007

3.0 Stars

BUDDY: All the King’s Men as farce.

The rise and fall of Vincent “Buddy” Cianci rewrites All the King’s Men as farce. In 1974, Cianci took on the Democratic machine that had run the city of Providence into the eyesore of New England, ran for mayor as an anti-corruption populist, and won. Over the course of several terms he transformed the city, and the people of Providence loved him even more after he assaulted a man who he claimed was sleeping with his wife. That led to his resignation in 1984, but in 1990 he achieved an astounding comeback victory. By then, however, Cianci had become what he had opposed, and in 2001 the feds indicted him for corruption. In this documentary — whose screenings coincide with his release from prison after serving a five-year term — Cherry Arnold chronicles this career with verve and clarity, using trenchant clips and interviews and a low-key narration from James Woods, and she brings the brilliant, funny, insufferable Cianci to life as both the king and the court jester of his own downfall. Buddy is as irresistible as its subject, and an essential primer of American politics.

Topics: Reviews , Politics, U.S. Politics, James Woods, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Where To Follow Me
Talking Politics | March 24, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Mo Takes His Turn
March 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM

[Q&A] KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko on art, Columbine and having balls
On The Download | March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM

See this film series: The Belmont World Film Series @ Studio Cinema in Belmont
Outside The Frame | March 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

See this film: This is Spinal Tap [with post-film talk by expert from Acoustical Society of America] @ the Coolidge
March 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

More Information

"Jailhouse rock: Buddy Cianci is out of prison and on a mission." By Mike Milliard.

ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH

BUFFET DINING: THE 15TH BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL | March 19, 2013
"Copraphagy" is a key word at this year's Boston Underground Film Festival at the Brattle.

REVIEW: GINGER & ROSA | March 19, 2013
Sally Potter likes to mess around with form and narrative.

UNDERGROUND CINEMA: THE 12TH BOSTON TURKISH FILM FESTIVAL | March 12, 2013
This year's Boston Turkish Film Festival includes works in which directors ponder the relationships between the secular and the religious, between men and women, and between destiny and identity.

REVIEW: A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III | March 12, 2013
In Roman Coppola's sophomoric second feature (his 2001 debut CQ was promising), Charlie Sheen shows restraint as the titular asshole, a dissolute ad designer and solipsistic whiner who's mooning over the loss of his latest love.

REVIEW: UPSIDE DOWN | March 14, 2013
Had Ed Wood Jr. directed Fritz Lang's Metropolis , he couldn't have achieved the earnest dopiness of Juan Solanas's sci-fi allegory — nor the striking images.