Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer

As I saw disgraced Governor Spitzer conduct a CNN program with Kathleen Parker, I thought: He must have very thick skin. Yes, he must have but I watched the program and couldn't help but being hit by his brilliance. Clarity, courage, directness. I couldn't wait to see "Client 9" Now, 24 hours later I feel a sense of loss. Spitzer could have been a great American president. The kind of leader that the world needs. One who won't shy away from confront corruption from any side of the aisle. What a terrible pit for all of us that a man like that could fall in such a common trap. His enemies, which by the way, they all look as if from the cast of The Sopranos used what HE gave them to destroy him. Damn shame! Sex, sex, sex. How many great men have fallen in the trap of their own needs. The documentary does a great job in allowing us to go into Spizer's personal and public jungle and come out with enormous amounts of food for thought. Sad, frustrating and very, very good

Eliot Spitzer is elected Governor of New York in 2006. He had been Attorney General for 8 years taking on everybody including the masters of the universe on Wall Street. He had enemies at the highest levels. He struggled to take down the labyrinthine corrupt politics of Albany. Then in 2008, he is taken down by a sex scandal. He has been seeing high price escorts. Jersey girl Ashley Dupré would promote herself as his call girl. However, it's only the surface of how he was singled out in the prosecution and the public shame of his secret life.

This is informative and has a slant to the story. It's part bio and part investigation. His cases as AG are interesting but may need some simpler expositions. My biggest complaint is that there is an effort to minimize prostitution and its inherit corrupting nature. It is no doubt that his outing is part of a political campaign but it could never excuse his weakness.

This is not a movie about a client of prostitution, the title notwithstanding. Obviously the title was chosen to "sell" the documentary, and my guess is that it has failed in its purpose. This is a truly terrific film about power politics. If you don't know much about the inner workings of government at the highest levels, this movie will go a long way to educate you. If you do know, this will likely confirm your experience. It is also hugely instructive about the brilliant Eliot Spitzer who was and is clearly dedicated to furthering the public good. The loss of his public service is a huge loss for American consumers. His responses to questions about his foolish indiscretions are forthright; that doesn't mean he fully understands why he did what he did-- who can? People are imperfect. They goof up at the worst possible times. The important questions that the film raises and that go unanswered have to do with how, in a country that processes millions of checks and money orders each month, were his (for $10,000 or maybe less) "singled out" for investigation? =

The title of this documentary pretty much explains what it is all about. It sums up the story of how Eliot Spitzer, governor of New York (2007-2008), went from fighting the corruption on Wall Street to resigning after the embarrassing media scandal that took place when Spitzer was revealed to have been using an escort service.

The documentary goes back and forth in time while interviewing earlier colleagues, sworn enemies, people from the escort business, and of course: Eliot Spitzer. Who all contribute with interesting interviews that are often enlightening in covering the story from more than one angle.

Client 9 is an entertaining documentary that rarely neglects the necessity of the cinematic aspect of filmmaking. In fact it is filled with interesting shots of the city, and manages to capture the passion of its subject as well as it reveals his faults. This documentary is also sure to entertain those who barely know who Eliot Spitzer is, as it takes on a number of heated issues that are sometimes explored philosophically. It also tells the tale of a politician, fighting for what he believes is right and what he has to deal with as a consequence, while not being devoid of the occasional laugh.

This two hour depiction of the rise and sudden fall of a dedicated public servant is built around two interviews: one with Eliot Spitzer himself, post-resignation, the other with a young actress playing the part of one "Angelina", a high class prostitute. Angelina claims to have had many "appointments" with Gov. Spitzer in many cities, while it was a mere one night stand with "Kristin" who got all the publicity.

Here we see the first of several, perhaps unavoidable, flaws in the documentary: reliance on weak sources whose statements cannot be independently verified. As no one is talking, not the FBI, the federal prosecutors nor Spitzer himself, you cannot know if "Angelina" is making the whole story up. However, her account does not defame the ex-Governor, paint him as sexually perverted or even ungentlemanly. She also voices harsh skepticism of "Kristin" and other girls in the life who claim victimhood currently or in the past.

The format is the standard Talking Heads with some news footage thrown in. Documentarian Gibney cannot resist resorting to lurid shots of scantily dressed women and a hip hop soundtrack when exploring the half-world of high end prostitution. Guess he felt he needed to sex it up in order to sell the film but to me this seemed cheap and frivolous.

With its evident bias in favor of its subject, the film mentions only in passing how Elliott Spitzer's own self-righteousness and abrasive behavior during his year as Governor may have left him without a friend in Albany when he badly needed friends. Admittedly, the State capital was a sinkhole of corruption and waste, but Spitzer's demeanor, like Christ come to cleanse the Temple, was probably the wrong way to go about reforming it.

There is an ample cast of villains -- though why these agreed to be interviewed for this documentary remains a mystery -- including former chairman and c.e.o. of insurance giant A.I.G., Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, Joseph Bruno, former Majority Leader of the New York State Senate (later convicted on federal corruption charges) and even a few words from Wall Street mega-millionaires Ralph Langone and Richard Grasso, bitter and powerful enemies from when Spitzer as Attorney General tried to rein in their insatiable GREED.

The film implies that the current fiscal crisis might have been averted had former Sheriff of Wall Street Spitzer remained in the Governor's mansion. This is doubtful, as doubtful as the claim by Hank Greenberg that A.I.G. would be a solvent company today instead of in federal receivership had he not been kicked out by his own board of directors following revelations by Attorney General Spitzer of accounting irregularities. The abuses Spitzer went after, such as executive compensation and price fixing, were not what caused the fiscal crisis of 2008. That was a result of risky loans and overvalued real estate which, ironically, was what the Spitzer family money was based on.

The ex-governor is shown to be repentant, chastened, fit to return to public service even if the White House now is out of reach. His vices, the documentary seems to say, are only those natural to a man. That Eliot Spitzer can be arraigned for hypocrisy, having himself prosecuted prostitution rings, gets perhaps twenty words in the whole film.