Taking its title from the now infamous rhetorical question that Donald Trump shouted upon Jeff Sessions’ recusal from the Russia Investigation, Matt Tyrnauer’s fierce documentary “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” uses Trump’s looming presence as subtext for a full-throated condemnation of the political fixer/infamous lawyer Roy Cohn. Trading nuance for blistering attacks, Tyrnauer’s film further pushes the thesis of Cohn-as-monster, somewhat failing to shade in his contradictory lifestyle. Nevertheless, the film is a compelling portrait of a looming presence in American politics.
READ MORE: ‘Where’s My Roy Cohn?’ Trailer: Donald Trump’s Evil Mentor Gets The Portrait Treatment
Not that Cohn really deserves anything resembling impartiality; as the famous mob lawyer, Trump mentor, and Joseph McCarthy whisperer, Cohn cultivated an aggressively domineering personality, one that predicted, and influenced, Trump’s “never apologize” rhetoric. Yet, as demonstrated in Tony Kushner’s portrayal in “Angels in America” (curiously never discussed in Tyrnauer’s film), Cohn was a man of unchecked impulses. Closeted his entire life, even refusing to acknowledge his sexuality while dying from AIDS, he outwardly led witch-hunts of both communists and homosexuals during his tenure with McCarthy. A lifelong Democrat, whose power often affixed itself to Republican leaders, including Nixon and Reagan, Cohn’s competing drive for social and political power ended up being his downfall, as his scorched earth business practices never reconciled with his invite-everyone approach to partying.
“Where’s My Roy Cohn?” filters Cohn’s life through a mostly chronological retelling, intermixing talking heads (namely family members, journalists, and, curiously, Roger Stone) with archival video. Tyrnauer brings a flashy approach, often over-populating scenes as Cohn, and others, talk about his life and influence. Also, if there was ever any doubt about the severity of Cohn’s evil, Lorne Balfe’s horror-tinged score is ever-present to remind viewers, as ominous music plays almost every scene.
Moving from Cohn’s immoral involvement with Ethel and Julius Rosenberg’s trial, through the McCarthy era, his private dealing as a lawyer, including representing Mob bosses and, finally, Donald Trump, Tyranauer effectively cliff-notes Cohn’s vast presence, his figure popping up simultaneously in Page Six and the White House. Cohn was a man almost self-obsessed with documenting himself, even going so far as to dictate his own headlines in the gossip columns. That impulse gives the film a trove of archival footage and, according to the film, was tied to his need for self-control, as he forever lived with the secret of his sexuality.
What curiously isn’t addressed, despite the film’s title, is the lasting influence of Cohn on Trump specifically, but also the political landscape, generally. Yes, Trump does pop up as the brash young real estate developer, willing to bend any and all the rules, but the film is content to end with Cohn’s eventual death. For better or worse, Tyrnauer lets viewers draw these contemporary connections for themselves. Yet, Cohn’s approach to media manipulation and self-promotion is omnipresent today, including in the entire self-mythologizing of the other Cohn protégé, Roger Stone. While not as in-depth or complex that might benefit such a polarizing figure, “Where’s My Roy Cohn” is a slick and effective primer for deeper dives into the history spanning influence of Cohn. [B]