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.
