Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer

Honest Man is by far one of the most compelling films I've watched in many years. You do not need to be a political person to become enthralled with this very human movie. From the very beginning to the end you will be engulfed in a story of a man who's life was turned upside down in a moment. Life accounts from his family as well as from his colleagues and video clips draw a picture of man who within 75 minutes becomes your friend or a close relative. You will feel his despair as his trial nears and watching this family man succumb to such a desperate end is a true tragedy. What remains is sadness when the movie is over but with it the hope that the lesson here for us is that while we inhabit this earth together, let us remember to treat each other with respect, kindness and honesty.

I was a sophomore in high school when Dwyer committed suicide, and as the documentary mentions, that was a snow day in Central Pennsylvania. One of the Harrisburg television stations showed the whole suicide, not stopping with the gun in the mouth. Dwyer's death was a haunting moment for many who grew up in Pennsylvania around my age.

Agree with some of the other reviews, both good and bad. The documentary is way too complimentary of Dwyer - - it comes off as something that was financed by his family and friends. As such, the first two-thirds isn't as compelling as a more evenhanded discussion of the man would have been. However, once the day of his suicide is the focus, the documentary picks up, especially with discussion of how the media reacted to the incident. My experience of seeing the suicide happen has made me naturally interested in all things Dwyer; I'm not sure this documentary would make someone who doesn't have the natural interest in the story interested in it.

A very poignant story especially the last half hour. His wife son daughter and friends have obviously been involved in the making of this documentary...

Personally, I liked the documentary. It's not hard-hitting. It's mainly a favorable view of Dwyer's life. However, while I certainly don't think he was without his flaws, I think the film makes a compelling case for Dwyer's innocence.

Ultimately, it accomplishes this through one thing: William Smith's admission that he lied under oath about Dwyer's involvement. For some reason, ShoeBuckle tries to claim "the film TRIES to show he lied at Dwyer's trial". Either ShoeBuckle is not very bright or he has a reason to come back at Dwyer, because there is no trying involved. Smith himself admits it on camera. He repeatedly expresses his regret for this. It's an objective matter.

I also don't know why ShoeBuckle feels the need to attack Dwyer's son's character, but he does. The son is a normal guy, understandably somewhat embittered talking about this whole mess.

I highly recommend you watch the documentary, and also recommend you treat ShoeBuckle's review as the trash that it is.

If the purpose of a documentary is to enlighten via the presentation of unbiased facts than surely james dirschberger's 'honest man : the life of r budd dwyer' is the ultimate anti-documentary.From the choice of interviewees (family members,ex colleagues),reluctance to even acknowledge or go into detail about the incriminating evidence against him and finally the completely partisan title of the finished product,you should be in no doubt what conclusions the film's makers want to you to draw about the case.Having had no preconceptions regarding dwyer's guilt or innocence going into watching this (i was merely interested in the story),i was disappointed by the bull in a china shop approach to proving his innocence. Imagine if 'capturing the friedman's' andrew jarecki's superlative documentary about the friedman abuse case took this same approach from the get go,then we'd have missed out on all the rich insight and thought provoking evidence for and against the accused that the director gleaned from both the interviews and the evidence he had procured and would have been left with a glorified celluloid character reference instead. As such 'honest man' is a massively dispiriting misfire that will surely only appeal to those who want quick and easy answers and wont question from whence they came.