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.

My main question regards the motivation behind this story. Firstly, does it aim to provide an informative account of Rudy or simply cash in on September 11? Moreover, if his biography is intended to be paramount , I am not sure whether it glorifies or condemn his character.On the whole, i thought this movie was poor. The production values were terrible, to say the very least. As was the handling of the events of September 11. To include such emotive footage of that day is dangerous, especially when Rudy exclaims "what have these bastards done to my city?". From an objective standpoint this line was simply ectopic in the context of the movie, almost adding light to the situation. The following "women and children first" dialogue seems misplaced in the terror and hysteria of the situation.

September the 11th 2001 was a day when I was ill with a really bad chest inflammation . I was having a cup of tea watching the end credits of NEIGHBOURS when a BBC newsflash came up . I instantly thought The Queen Mother had died untill the newsreader said two planes had crashed into each of the twin towers of the WTC building and I spent the rest of the day with a shocked expression on my face as the events in New York unfolded . The world changed that day and not for the better RUDY : THE RUDY GIULIANI STORY is the first filmed dramatisation of the events of 9/11 . It`s also a biopic of the legendary Mayor of New York on that day , but I found this to be uninformative . Mayor Rudy took on the mafia ? Well I knew that already . He drastically cut the crime rates in NYC ? I knew that already . He was a bit of a lad and cheated on his partner ? I didn`t know that but is infidelity all that interesting ? As a big James Woods fan I was also disappointed with his performance in the title role and couldn`t help thinking Woods was slightly miscast , Woods is in his element playing manic , intense bad guys and I`ve never thought of Giuliani as a manic , intense bad guy . As one reviewer has already pointed out Robert Duvall would have been perfect in the role .The biggest problem with this TVM is nothing to do with the actors or anyone`s opinion of Mayor Rudy , it`s probably more to do with the events on 9/11 . The reality of something so shocking , something that set so many wheels in motion for both good and bad for many years to come completely overwhelms something as unimportant as a movie made for television .

I haven't seen all the movies he's been in, but this is the best James Woods since Citizen Cohen, I think.The movie itself is compelling and is told in flashback form from I haven't seen all the movies he's been in, but this is the best James Woods since Citizen Cohen, I think.The movie itself is compelling and is told in flashback form from September 11. It emphasis Giuliani's love for the law and for New York City.As an American, it was hard to watch without having my tears jerked but that yet, I had to watch.The performances by the other actors and actresses were all good too. Some people will say its a white wash but I felt it depicted Rudy Giuliani the man, his good side, his obsession with cleaning up NYC, hit temper, his marital infidelities, the horror of finding out his father was once arrested and jailed for armed robbery. They don't come much better then this.Oh, I forgot, his love of opera. Its all in there.I hope there will be a DVD release.