Excellent but underrated film

As Good As It Gets

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The title references a story recalled by Wexler junior and is a well chosen one as perhaps the story is a small illustration of the relationship between the success father and his son. I came this film because I recognised Wexler from Medium Cool and the Making Of film I saw recently, but I was even more interested when I realised quite how many famous films I had seen where he had been the cinematographer. I, like many others, thought "here is an interesting man and hopefully a good documentary". Sadly it isn't – or at least, not in the way that I hoped it would be.Mostly we hear little of Wexler the filmmaker and even as a man, the film is unable to really bring out the person so much as just seeing him being grumpy and deliberately difficult. Maybe this is who he is, but even if this is true the film doesn't really capture this very well or even structure it – it just happens as a side-effect of nothing else working. At times (most notably in the early stages) the scenes where Haskell directs over the top of his son Mark offered interest because I thought it would be a good way where the film could get him talking about the craft and the film would be strong on that. Although this happens in miniature here and there, it just happens and doesn't seem to be something deliberate that is followed up on and the potential in these scenes are never realised.Mark has done lots of interviews for this film but few are used for more than a snippet here and there. Instead we get the majority of the film depicting the relationship between father and son as they argue and Haskell continually forces his will onto Mark. In this way it is interesting because, regardless of who the person is (and in this area it doesn't really matter that the father is a famous cinematographer) the unspoken story offers potential. Some have said that the way Haskell hijacks the film makes it a mess and a failure – but I disagree. The mess came in the editing suite and the failure is the failure to pull all these "real" moments into a structure where they are the film. Instead these moments again just happen and the inability to harness them and make them in to a film is what frustrated me – not the fact that they happened.However without this happening, it did leave me agreeing with several others who question the value of the film. It doesn't do a good job looking at Haskell's career; nor does it do a good job looking at him as a man; nor does it do a good job of looking at the craft of the cinematographer; nor does it manage to structure a portrait of a father and son relationship. So what does it manage to do? Well, the truth is, a small amount of each of these but nothing in sufficient quantity or quality to be of real value. Intermittently interesting but mostly it is a messy, out-of-control affair with limited value.

A documentary which chronicles the life and work of acclaimed cinematographer Haskell Wexler, made by his son Mark, focussing on Wexler Senior's films and political ideals but also on their opposing viewpoints and often strained relationship.This is a documentary about a very interesting guy. Haskell Wexler shot some of the most important movies of the last forty years (In The Heat Of The Night, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Bound For Glory, Matewan) and has a reputation as a difficult perfectionist for whom artistic integrity is an absolute must. He is also a documentary filmmaker who specialises in thought-provoking anti-establishment reportage (such as 1965's The Bus, about the Civil Rights movement). In this film he comes across as someone whose intelligence and strength of character are admirable (despite being eighty and having led a fairly heady lifestyle, he's in great physical shape), but whose priorities and self-importance are highly questionable. He's constantly belittling Wexler Junior, sometimes justifiably (who needs an artistic sunset shot in a documentary) but often for no reason at all, and you can't help feeling that a man who puts his career and his politics before his family isn't half as smart as he thinks he is. The most interesting aspect is the contrast between Wexler and his friend and fellow cameraman Conrad Hall (to whom the film is dedicated); Hall was just as gifted and acclaimed as Wexler, but without the eogcentrism, and Wexler Junior can't help but admit he'd have preferred Hall as a dad. This is a curio - part Hollywood bio, part family reconciliation film - but it's well-made, touching and funny, with a sensational cadre of commentators. Well worth a look. 5/10

I just rented the DVD from Netflix. My potential spoiler refers to a section in the special features section of the DVD.Haskell Wexler is a talented director of photography and an extreme left activist. His son's documentary does an excellent job in humanizing him to some extent. The review here by Filmotaku was excellent. It gave a great overview of this movie. What was even better on DVD is the extended interviews in the special features section. I can't stand Jane Fonda's political views, but her comments on her father and Haskell were informative and moving. The best part of the special features section has Haskell watching the completed movie. He is in tears at the end and tells his son that, he Mark, is a great filmmaker. Mark breaks down at that point and it is a very moving and honest moment, that probably made it all worthwhile for Mark. At that point Haskell signs the release form. A good way to finish.

I have just seen the film at Venezia Film Festival 2004. If it were still necessary this film proves how good documentaries are earning the place of Real Cinema comparing with so many bad fiction films. This is absolutely cinema, this is a story, emotions, narrative solutions, editing, whatever you may find in well done cinema. Also thanking Michael Moore we'll may able to see distributed films like this. But not only 'politically correct' documentaries: beautiful documentaries can have nothing to do with politics or strictly social matters. This film is an excellent example. If you like this kind of cinema go to IDFA Festival in Amsterdam where it's possible to see a real good selection of documentaries. 'Tell Them Who You Are' manages to picture the story of a legendary cinematographer and director, larger than life for a son who follows his steps. And the son probably manages to overcome his father, at least as director, realizing a light and intense portrait, never exceeding in autoindulgence or rethoric. Good for any audience and especially for Movie freaks.