Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins

If you followed political life and read articles of news over the years you probably came across the outspoken truth seeking Molly Ivins. And for one she told the people how it was, always telling us that the country is that of the people, plus she exposed corruption in politics. This documentary "Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins" is well done and informative and educational showing about her life and accomplishments on the page. Never pretty she was all brains instead who was a giant six foot Texan who brought trouble for those in power by exposing their wrong doings. Plus she gave great opinions and takes and editorials about the current, and make no bones about it she was a hard living hard drinking liberal with razor sharp wit and humor who always thought the Bill of Rights should be the real bible of the people. The interviews from friends, family, and other reporters were touching, for sure this lady raised hell for the people thru truth and courage. This late lady will be missed by many. This doc took plenty in watch no matter what your politics is.

Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins (2019) was directed by Janice Engel.

Molly Ivins was one of a kind. She was a brilliant reporter, a wonderful satirist, and a fascinating person.

The excellent movie captures Ivins' personality and professional accomplishments very well. The biography is a mix of clips from her many lectures and guest appearances with interviews from the journalists who knew her and worked with her.

The only drawback to the film is the time spent on the Texas legislature. Ivins wrote scathingly funny articles about how inept they were. However, if you're not from Texas, you may not see the importance of all of her efforts to to prove to readers that they're truly losers.

We saw this movie on the small screen, where it worked very well. It has an excellent IMDb rating of 7.7. I think it's even better than that.

I'd never heard of Molly Ivins before watching this, and I am utterly delighted that I got to learn about her. So smart, so funny, so real.

As "Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins" (2019 release; 93 min.) opens, we see a bunch of old TV clips with Molly Ivins appearing on various talk shows and political (CSPAN) cable shows, reminding us of the "fire brand" that was Molly Ivins, progressive political columnist in a conservative state (Texas). We then go back to "River Oaks 1958" to her childhood years, where she comes in conflict with her conservative and controlling dad. But Molly does understand the value of a good education (rd generation Smith College), while during the summer shes interns at the Houston Chronicle... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the first theatrical release from long-time TV director and documentarian Janice Engel. In this latest documentary, she lets her subject matter Molly Ivins do most of the talking, and rightfully so. There is a true treasure trove out there of Ivins appearing on various radio and TV shows, and that's not even mentioning her many, many columns that she wrote over the years for The New York Times, The Dallas Morning, the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, and in the end through her own syndicated column. Ivins was a real fire cracker (and a funny one at that), but more importantly, she was an astute observer who was not afraid to tell it like it is. Her comments from 2004, both as to Iraq ("the war in Iraq is a disaster!") and as to wealth inequality were nothing short of eerie and visionary, as we are now 15 years later and things have only gotten so much worse on both those topics. One can only imagine what she would think of the current POTUS and administration... She'd have a field day! I certainly didn't agree with everything Ivins wrote or talked about, but always found her perspective worth knowing about. Meanwhile, this documentary flew by in no time, and bottom line is that I enjoyed this more than I expected.

"Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins" premiered at this year's Sundance film festival. It finally made its way to my art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay (about 15 people). If you remember Molly Ivins (fondly or not) or have an interest in politics, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

I never heard of Molly or I forgot about her. Probably would have enjoyed it more if I knew of her. I stuck with it. Quite the character and quite the life. Eye witness to history. Very well done. Recommend.