Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Not all biographical films on politicians are made equal. Some try to tell a sprawling tale of someone's political life, such as Oliver Stone with his Nixon and W, while others capture a momentous slice of an historical event, such as Roger Donaldson's Thirteen Days which was gripping from start to end. Then there are those like Rudy, which tries to do both, but don't really get there, undoubtedly having the story mooted since Rudy Giuliani (James Woods) was the mayor of New York during the fateful event of September 11 2011, and having this film weave a glimpse of his political career culminating in that horrendous disaster.Granted this had a limited budget, and in many ways that showed in the film, having some scenes crafted in sparse studios, although looking like a million dollars when Robert Dornhel, whose experience and filmography point to a lot of made for television films which this one also belonged to, had deliberately opted for the documentary look and feel for the event of September 11. Everything else looked indoors and not on location, removing that sense of authenticity of filming it all in the Big Apple.There's also very little on his political and professional career before Mayorship, and what I thought was a very interesting bit in his life during his Attorney General days as he locked horns with the mafia, was grossly glossed over, which was a pity because there's so much narrative potential there to be explored, but I guess writer Stanley Weiser, who based this film on the book by Wayne Barrett, didn't find it interesting enough for a big screen treatment. Much instead is preferred to focus on the man's incredibly bad temper behind closed doors, demonstrating that Giuliani is a man who doesn't mince his words, and shoots very fast from the hip without due care whether it'll hurt anyone at all with his pointed, loud barbs.With 9/11 stock footage mixed with its own documentary presentation, the story unfolds in flashbacks, as we glimpse into Rudy's marriage to newscaster Donna Hanover (Penelope Ann Miller) who had once interviewed him and begun a whirlwind romance, before his suspected infidelities and indiscretion led to breakdowns in both his marriage and almost always threatening his political career, isolating him from strong, key advisers who don't quite see eye to eye with his blind trust of his communications director. I suppose Robert Dornhelm prefers to tell the age old story of how the strong almost always fall prey to the advances of the fairer sex, and in some ways become the seeds to their downfall, in more ways than one.James Woods puts in a riveting performance as the go-getter in the titular character, but ultimately got let down by the weak narrative that didn't get to dig deeper into what made the man, skimming only on the surface and focused on his anger management issues. Supporting cast didn't outside Woods in his role, and that may be attributed to the more caricature like treatment the supporting characters had to deal with since a biopic that's about 90 minutes long doesn't leave a lot of room for the spotlight to be shared with others.For a man who was to provide a leadership beacon in what would be one of the most tragic terrorist attacks in human history, Rudy had all the potential to paint a more complex, detailed picture of just who the man was, someone whom most had seen on their television screens in the aftermath of that attack, but you're likely to come out from this just a wee bit more knowledgeable about the man himself, if at all, no thanks to its summarizing of key milestones in the man's life, and the indecision to just want to focus on an episode, or be a little bit more ambitious to cover a whole lot of ground.

Apparently it was his admiration for the prurient right-wing mayor that led James Woods to play the part. But the portrayal remains wholly unconvincing, particularly as James Woods is such a familiar Hollywood actor. It would have helped a great deal in my opinion to have used a virtually unknown actor for the part, and Woods admiration for the man in no way justifies him being cast for the role. And surely there's no need in my pointing out the fact that the two men share no physical resemblance whatsoever? The quality and style of the film is sub-standard TV movie. The September 11th section of this film switches from actual original camcorder footage of the collisions - to scenes of Woods pretending to be the mayor, back and forth. Back and forth. Whether the use of original footage was due to low budget, or 'experimental' reasons, I'm not quite sure, but whatever the reason - it sure looks tacky.In many ways I admire the mayor, in particular for his calm and measured response in the days following 9/11 (in stark contrast to Bush). But I do feel the man is a philistine and does not support freedom of expression, at least within the arts (as evidenced by his banning of an art exhibition in New York simply because it offended his very catholic religious sensibilities). But of course this hagiography of a film does not explore this side of the man - only those aspects which depict him as heroic, saintly, yet redemptive and human.

A superficial puff-piece about a fascinating political character that stays so much on the surface that it verges on soft-core propaganda. Neither James Woods nor the script really bears a particularly close resemblance to Guiliani, both making him look better than he really was.One example that can symbolize many others: Guiliani is shown as a devoted Yankee fan, but there is no mention of his various overt and covert efforts to funnel millions of public dollars to George Steinbrenner and his baseball team.The director's and writer's point of view is not only essentially pro-Guiliani, but the narrative framework is also centered within his political cadre, rather than being informed by the insights of detached and balanced observers.I would have liked to have seen more about where Rudy came from -- geographically, socially, and psychologically -- to help understand how he became such a capable yet massively flawed figure on the New York political stage. This movie trivializes its subject matter, focussing on a two-dimensional cutout rather than a three-dimensional character within a complex context.

I think that "Rudy!" is a great depiction of the former New York mayor. It balances his good points with his bad. There were so many things I didn't know about the man that this piece shed light on. This alone makes me want to become more involved in politics and the writers and producer should really give themeselves a pat on the back for this one.