Citizen Cohn

That rarest of birds, a TV-movie that's every bit as engrossing as any theatrical film. James Woods in a personal-best turn as ruthless McCarthy-era prosecutor Roy Cohn. If you didn't see it on HBO, get over having to pay for something you could have seen for free, and just rent it--you won't be sorry

Very, very good movie.

This movie is about Roy Cohn, a prosecutor in the McCarthy trials. And let me tell you, Cohn made McCarthy look pretty darn good.

The movie was frightening and it's hard to believe that it's true, but alas it is. The movie is downright bizarre! Also, the acting is excellent and believable. There were also a few good laughs despite the serious matter.

Definitely watch it, especially if you're into history and politics.

Saw it last night on HBO. While it's true that Cohn was gay that was a minor part of what the movie was about. I would say the film shows what happens when radical right wing idiots get too much power and start a crusade against everyone who disagrees with them.

Woods is excellent in this film playing a total a-hole so convincingly that as a viewer you want him to get run over by a bus about 10 minutes into the movie. When an actor can make you intensely emotional, whether positively or negatively, towards a character he portrays that is great acting.

It's a good movie to watch in these times of extreme right wing conservatives dominating the American government, the airwaves and book sales. The rhetoric and the despicable way of going about achieving their misguided goals reminds me very much of what I see today. They harass people, don't let them talk when they try to defend themselves, use intimidation tactics, etc. These are truly disgusting, disturbed, completely misguided people with absolutely no sense of what's right and wrong.

A great favorite of many conservatives, Ann Coulter, not only defended McCarthy in her latest book, but with her views could be a proud member of his staff. People need to see this film to realize how dangerous people like Coulter are. I also wonder what's up hers? I'm sure she has an interesting past and upbringing. Maybe it's time someone looked into it.

There are many conservative pundits who are simply stupid, ignorant and misinformed people. Coulter is not dumb and she knows exactly what she's doing just like Cohn. These are the ones we have to watch out for.

This film shows why.

Roy Cohn was truly a brilliant man. He graduated from law school before most people even graduated from college. During his prosecuting of the Rosenburgs and his stint as McCarthy's assistant, he was looked upon as a rising star, a "young Commie catching comet" as Walter Winchell called him. For all his panache, brilliane and theatrics, however, Cohn was nothing more then a liar and a crook and was disbarred shortly before his death from AIDs. It made me angry that this man was so brilliant and we could have reaped a great benefit from his talents if he had properly and honestly applied them to helping people. Like so many, however, Cohn was corrupted by power and greed. I have rarely seen an actor who can play a bad guy the way that James Woods can, this man is awesome in every way and they couldn't have picked a better man to play this real life meglomaniac and monster. Woods is so chilling as Cohn that you almost feel that his dying of AIDs is God's punishment. He is sneering in our faces all throughout this film. I see nothing wrong with calling Roy Cohn a monster, but he is like a Frankenstein monster because we made him and let him get away with it. He was a Jew who persecuted Jews and a gay man who persecuted gays. The most disturbing scene for me in the film is where the dying Cohn is literally "haunted" by the Rosenburgs, a victim of the Witch Hunt he drove to suicide and even Senator McCarthy and Joseph Welch (the lawyer who helped bring him down during the infamous Army-McCarthy hearings). Its hard to believe that we could have another Salem Witchcraft period of hysteria in our country but we did less then 50 years ago because of two demagogues named Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn. Joe Don Baker did a fine job as the infamous Wisconsin Senator but Peter Boyle was the one who did a masterful performance in the 1977 tv film Tail Gunner Joe. They re-enact the scene during the hearings (which were the first of their kind carried live on tv) where Joseph Welch called down the wrath of God on this tyrant in a way no one would ever forget "I don't think I ever really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness...if it were in my power to forgive you for your reckless cruelty I would do so...I like to think I'm a gentle man but your forgiveness will have to come from someone else...have you left no sense of decency sir?...at long last have you left no sense of decency? He could have easily said the same thing to Roy Cohn and the answer would have been no.

This is a top notch cable film about one of the dark moments in our history and the man who profited from it. There are some exaggerations and innacuracies but the point is made.

Lets hope we learned something from history.