Best of Enemies reveals the moment TV’s political ambition shifted from narrative to spectacle, forever altering the way the media — and Americans — talked about politics. Dead last in the ratings, ABC hired Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley to debate each other during the 1968 Democratic and Republican national conventions. Buckley, who founded National Review magazine in 1955, was a leading light of the new conservative movement. Gore Vidal, lifelong Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, was a leftist, taboo-smashing novelist and polemicist. Both believed each others political ideologies were dangerous for America. Like rounds in a heavyweight boxing bout, they pummeled each other with exchanges that devolved into personal attacks. These live and unscripted quarrels riveted viewers, and the television industry took notice.

Directed by Oscar winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) and Grammy-winning author and filmmaker Robert Gordon (Respect Yourself), the film would go on to be nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, shortlisted for the 2016 Documentary Academy Award, and earn a Cinema EyeHonors nomination for BEST EDITING.

SUNDANCE 2015 - US Documentary Competition

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST 2015 - Festival Favorites

http://www.bestofenemiesfilm.com/

Rolling Stone's list of top 10 films of Sundance 2015

Time Out New York's top 10 films of Sundance 2015

"For American viewers of an intellectual/historical persuasion, there could scarcely be any documentary more enticing, scintillating and downright fascinating than Best of Enemies. A sort of brainy equivalent of the Ali-Frazier boxing matches of the same general era." - Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

"Best of Enemies provides the best of what documentary can do, not only bringing to light a story that may have slipped away from general discourse, but providing critical illumination in a way that's extremely vital to the here and now. It's a fascinating tale that's exhilarating and engaging, an entirely fitting and vital showcase for the film's iconoclastic subjects." - Twitch Film

"...the documentary artfully entwines insightful commentaries by interviewees (including intimates and critics of both subjects) and vintage footage of the actual “debates” to cogently indicate the dire ripple effects of the Buckley-Vidal faceoffs. Even as they give their audience several good laughs, they also provide generous servings of food for thought." - Variety

"If you like witty repartee among intellectuals, it’s hard to see how you could have more fun than watching this movie." - WIRED

"...a juicy and thrilling documentary about two intellectual titans who truly loathed one another." - The Guardian

"This might have been both the most entertaining and the saddest film of this year’s Sundance: a riveting gabfest that slowly becomes a lament for the Republic." - Vulture

"The genius of Best of Enemies is that it is not political at all, in the sense that it isn't arguing for a political position. In fact, it's remarkably even-handed in how it treats its subjects' politics." - Christianity Today

"Through a mixture of archival footage and select readings of both men’s writing on the event, as interpreted by John Lithgow as Vidal and Kelsey Grammer as Buckley, Best of Enemies is effective as both a chronicle of a fraught era in American history and an origin story of the modern state of American televised news journalism." - Consequence of Sound

"It’s an enormously entertaining documentary that speaks volumes about contemporary journalism and the tumultuous political climate that gave birth to this unforgettable intellectual cage match." - Crave

"On its face, Best of Enemies would not seem to be the film to generate a riveting, edge-of-your seat experience. However, the connection between the two men and mutual desire to destroy the other man was so strong between Buckley and Gore that you can’t help but get caught up in the escalating back and forth. I don’t think I was alone in the audience of critics I viewed the film with in feeling I would have been fine with another 30 minutes of movie – I was enjoying it so much." - Film Threat

"Best of Enemies is a madcap intellectual romp. What could have been a dull retread of U.S. political history is instead a lively and fascinating tale of two bitter enemies who had more in common than they cared to admit." - KCRW

"At the end of the movie, Buckley is heard in voiceover bemoaning what became of political coverage: “There is an implicit conflict of interest between that which is highly viewable and that which is highly illuminating.” One of the chief pleasures of “Best of Enemies” is that it manages to be both." - The Wrap