The Presidents' Gatekeepers

I was very disappointed with this documentary. Lots of jump-cuts and other dated attempts at looking "hip." 95% form and 5% substance. PBS does this kind of thing so much better. The Discovery Channel should stick to Bigfoot and UFOs in the future. They squandered a wonderful opportunity here. The NYT was spot on in their review. "What is on paper a tour de force of access filmmaking makes quixotic and lumpy and directionless use of that access. The film jumps eras willy-nilly, and never settles on a narrative of how the role of chief of staff has evolved over the years. There is no one way to do the job — there's the cheerful grace of James A. Baker III, or the mercurial flamboyance of Rahm Emanuel — but there is little reflection on what approaches have been more successful than others. This film is content to have done the heavy lifting in hooking its subjects for bluntly filmed talking-head interviews — anything more is gravy. "