Synopsis
Return Engagement is a 1983 documentary film directed by Alan Rudolph about the tour debate between Timothy Leary and G. Gordon Liddy.
Return Engagement
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Theatrical
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USA
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USA
09 Jul 1983
- Theatrical
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RETURN ENGAGEMENT (1983)
Dir: Alan Rudolph"Return Engagement" (U.S. '83), Filmex-83's best-of-fest as of this writing, is a first docu from director Alan Rudolph ("Endangered Species," "Roadie," "Welcome to L.A.") and proves even assholes can provide a film full of cogent, rich ideas, even as we marvel and become sad at the sight of intellect gone awry. Said rectal apertures are G. Gordon Liddy, that Nixon-ian hatchet-man with a deluded, neofascist sense of loyalty to government, and Timothy Leary, the '60's drug-guru who encouraged an entire generation to fry its collective brain. Proving once again that cliches have solid bases in fact, each man has considerable good points, not the least of which are literate wit and world awareness, as…
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Realized I didn't care about Liddy or Leary enough to make it through Rudolph's documentary about two sides of the same pathetic "intelligence community" coin.
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Listening to two politicians talk at each other is maybe the least enjoyable way I can think to spend my free time. Something we may have to reckon with towards the back end of this Total Arnold journey.
Was very curious as to how Arnold would show up here and I shouldn’t have been surprised. The debate that the film is structured around takes place in LA, so of course we get footage of Leary and Liddy at a swanky Hollywood party glad handing with people. We see Arnold for approximately 5 seconds as he shakes hands and greets one of the candidates.
Is this journey the dumbest thing I’ve ever done? I see I’m the 3rd person to review this on LB, so all signs point to “yes”.
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Wonderful look at a time when public intellectualism and debate was cordial and respected. I like both men and find their points of view interesting, but less so Liddy’s reactionary Conservatism. However, I find that Rudolph’s (assumed) Liberalism slanted the movie more toward making Leary look better. At any rate, we would all benefit from more of this.