Why so much hype?

Touches You

A different way of telling a story

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The Morton Downey Jr. Show blazed like an incendiary comet for about two years on television in the late 1980's only to crash and burn due to the all-too-human flaws and foibles of its exceptionally crude, rude, and abrasive host Morton Downey Jr. Notorious for the ruthless way he ferociously bullied and berated guests that he disagreed with, Downey Jr. played the role of the angry and abusive ultra-conservative right-wing wacko to the deliciously slimy hilt. Naturally, it was basically all a cunning and calculated act, but Downey Jr. still managed to achieve significant iconic status with a huge segment of the disenfranchised American public as a kind of say-it-like-you see it blue collar folk hero. Born to show business parents (his mother was a dancer and his father was a famous singer), Downey Jr. initially made an abortive attempt to become a singer like his much-despised father before going on to work for the Kennedy family as a liberal senator (!) in the 1960's prior to recreating himself as a hostile Republican loudmouth rabble rouser in the 1980's.Fortunately, this documentary neither glorifies nor vilifies Downey Jr; instead it presents him warts'n'all as an extremely angry and insecure man whose fragile ego and continual desire for acceptance caused him to self-destruct in the most excruciatingly painful manner possible (Downey Jr. infamously staged an incident claiming that he had been attacked and brutalized by skinheads in an airport bathroom, which this documentary states for the record was an outright hoax concocted by Downey Jr. to get one of his wives to feel sorry for him). The clips from The Morton Downey Jr. Show are every bit as outrageous and hilarious as one would expect -- obnoxious gadfly Al Sharpton was knocked flat on his then fat pompous keister on one legendary episode which made the news -- while the latter footage of habitual chain smoker Downey Jr. transforming into a staunch anti-smoking advocate in the wake of being diagnosed with lung cancer registers as remarkably poignant and heart-wrenching. Mort's daughter Kelli Downey Cornwell and his best friend Lloyd Schoonmaker offer touching insights into the more human side of Mort while Chris Elliot, Sally Jessy Raphael, and Pat Buchanan discuss Downey Jr.'s legacy as a true trash TV pioneer who kicked politeness and civility out the door and replaced it with roaring rage and fury. Moreover, producer Bob Pittman admits he feels guilty about providing Mort with an ideal forum in which to bring about his own ruination while writer Jim Langan and bodyguard David Giegold tell some colorful stories about their wild ride working for Downey Jr. Although not without its flaws (for example, this documentary completely ignores the fact that Mort was a gay baiter who had a homosexual brother with AIDS who appeared as a guest on his show as well as glosses over Mort's subsequent career as an actor after his show went down the tubes), this documentary still overall sizes up as a fascinating chronicle of a singular 80's icon.

"The Mouth" (Morton Downey Jr.), a Nickname that His Fans and Detractors Hung on the Controversial TV Personality, Aptly Described this Poser. A Self Proclaimed Spokesman for the "Little Guy", the Guy Without a Voice. His Right Wing Posing was Most Likely 90% Act and 10% Real.But What You Discover in this Documentary About the Two Year Rise and Fall of a "Personality" that Hosted a TV Talk Show that Went From Obscurity to a Highly Popular Syndication and then as Quickly as it Arrived was Snuffed Out by its Own Inertia.Downey, it Seems, was One of those Pop Culture Icons that Started to Believe His Own Hype and the Illusion Became the Man's Reality. His Off Screen Antics that were Absent Before He was On Magazine Covers and a Household Name, Became Part of the Man's Personality. He Embraced the On Air Shenanigans and Started Living His Life Like His "Character". The End, in Retrospect was Inevitable. After He was Discovered Hoaxing an Attack by Skinheads, it was All Over. His Sincerity was Now in Question and No One Could Take Him Seriously. Not Even His Devoted Audience Nicknamed "The Beast". The Show Devolved Into Circus Acts with Freaks and Strippers. He and the Show Never Recovered. It was a Two Year Pop Culture Comet that Crashed and Burned and Unlike it's Celestial Counterpart, was Not a Pretty Sight.He Must be Given Credit (if that is the term) for Unleashing a Television Format of Divisiveness. Political and Social TV Shows of Varying Personalities and Style that Remain with Us Today. From Reality Shows to Fox News, and Right Wing Talk Radio, it was Mort that Made it All OK. It Sells. Taking a Cue from Joe Pyne a TV Pundit that Came Before Downey, The Mouth just Amped it Up a Notch, Roamed the Studio Instead of Staying Seated, and Cursed, Spit, and Insulted His Guests Ad Nauseum.Overall, the Documentary is a Good Chronicle of the Man and His Show and its Influence and is a Necessary Distillation of a Pop Culture Zeitgeist. The Residue Remains and this is a Good Place to Find Out Where to Put the Thanks or the Blame.

Before reality television allowed just about anybody to say just about anything in front of just about any audience AND before polarizing radio/television personalities such as Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill Maher and Sean Hannity proved there is an audience that craves shock-talk when it involves putting-down and insulting others, the world had one person who did this on a regular basis and who was actually different than all who followed as he was an honest, equal-opportunity offender who spoke his mind and was not earning tens of millions of dollars from corporate sponsors by manipulating those dumber than himself to believe everything he said. Yes, sorry, but if the shoe fits one's left OR right foot ... wear it.Morton Downey Jr. was a foul-mouthed, bug-eyed, chain-smoking hothead who had hoped to follow in his father's footsteps as a crooner; but as the intelligent man's talent wasn't in music he found a place for himself on television as a host of a short-lived yet notorious and controversial talk show that bore his name -- The Morton Downey, Jr. Show -- that aired in syndication from 1987 to 1989.It was called "3-D television" by some because of the numerous quasi-violent outbursts -- flinging chairs! fistfights! shouting matches! -- that occurred on the show between the verbally volatile frequent and not-so-frequent guests such as Rev. Al Sharpton, Gloria Allred, Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul, Curtis Sliwa, Allen Dershowitz and some (ignorant) random klansmen. His show was also described as "rock and roll without the music" because of its attitude, pacing and aggressive format. Downey Jr. was "in your face" and rarely apologized and always had an opinion which turned off plenty of viewers although it revolutionized the television format/genre. It could be compared to Jerry Springer; but Downey Jr. emphasized politics and race and hot-button issues and did not openly embrace trashy topics like promiscuous married bed-hoppers or naughty male nurses or stripper mothers. He believed his show was important.Downey Jr. had a very quick rise to his infamous fame but also had a very fast fall as a stunt of his backfired and he lost much support. Evocateur is at its best when it showcases the man's career rise and fall but also provides a bit of touching, human reality by including the man's late health scare and battle with lung cancer (he claimed to have smoked upwards of 3 packs a day at the height of his career and he openly chronicled much of his early cancer battle with various television audiences). The doc falters a bit when it mentions his late-life love story with his third wife that wasn't necessary for the film but perhaps the filmmakers wanted to show he had a heart and was capable of loving another.His show aired in the late 80's and I remember it being on and hearing some of his more shocking claims ... that probably are not as shocking to an audience today as they once were. Evocatuer is an adequate tribute to a man who did revolutionize television even if the man never knew to what extent.Without doubt, he did take things too far but he did speak his mind openly and honestly which is more than can be said about so many that have followed him and are doing so for larger paychecks (as it has become ALL about the $).

Like the other reviewer, I had never heard of this guy's show until this doc. I'd heard the name, but didn't know what it was associated with. Having seen this I can only say I wish it had more insights into WHY he's the man he is. It comes across as more summary than commentary, and that's always a shame to see in a documentary.He didn't innovate anything, as we find out that they were just copying the format of an old 1960s show, so no points for him there either. With that gone Downey Jr is just another angry middle aged man ranting on TV against people who can't actually change anything anyway. Just like it still is, it was all about the ratings more than the content.All in all, an entertaining movie for a mere budget of $300k, but could have been so much more...