Fauci (film)

Last updated

Fauci
Fauci poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Produced by
  • Janet Tobias
  • John Hoffman
  • Alexandra Moss
  • Jon Bardin
  • Roger Lopez
  • Mark Monroe
Starring Anthony Fauci
CinematographyClaudia Raschke
Edited by
  • Brian Chamberlain
  • Amy Foote
Music by Daniel Hart
Production
companies
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures
Release dates
  • September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)(Telluride)
  • September 10, 2021 (2021-09-10)(United States)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Fauci is a 2021 American documentary film, directed and produced by John Hoffman and Janet Tobias, and produced by Alexandra Moss. It follows the life and career of Anthony Fauci. Liz Garbus serves as an executive producer under her Story Syndicate banner.

Contents

The film had its world premiere at the 48th Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021. It was released on September 10, 2021, by Magnolia Pictures. It has received generally positive reviews from critics.

Synopsis

The film follows the life and career of Anthony Fauci, who has led the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the AIDS/HIV epidemic.

Production

In February 2021, it was announced that Anthony Fauci would star in a documentary film, with John Hoffman and Janet Tobias set to direct and produce. The film was set to be produced by National Geographic Documentary Films, and executive produced by Liz Garbus under her Story Syndicate banner. [1]

Production on the film took place in secret, due to Fauci not wanting President Donald Trump to find out about the film, with production taking place in his office at the National Institute of Health, and at his home once the COVID-19 vaccine was released. [2] Fauci was not paid for appearing in the film, [3] nor did he have any creative control over the film. [3] [4]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 48th Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021. [5] [6] It was released on September 10, 2021, by Magnolia Pictures, prior to streaming on Disney+ in October 2021. [7]

Critical reception

Critical reception of the film has been overall positive. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 86% of 42 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Fauci isn't the cure for the common bio-doc, but it offers an entertaining and edifying overview of a life largely spent in public service." [8] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [9]

Brian Lowry of CNN wrote that the film "celebrates a life devoted to public service and the politicization of the response to Covid-19, in roughly that order ... lauding a figure whose critics have seemingly twisted his image beyond recognition in their attempts to demonize him." [10] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the "laudatory but lenient" film a score of 4/5 stars; finding it "easy to agree with its praise for Fauci’s intellectual heroism, especially when reactionary anti-science charlatanism is running rampant across the internet and the political right." [11] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a grade of B−, describing it as "a fittingly sober and unflashy biodoc that's far less engaging as a portrait of a public servant … than it is as a testament to the values he’s embodied during his many decades of being America’s doctor." [12]

Edward Porter of The Times gave the film a score of 3/5 stars as "a worthwhile account, partly because it looks at Fauci’s whole career." [13] Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film is "strategically timed [to counter] the right-wing animosity for "America's Doctor"; justifying the film's being occasionally "as machine-stamped for adulatory portraiture as a commercial bio doc can be." [14] G. Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle described the film as "a mostly admiring documentary, clearly enamored with its subject who has attained movie-star-level fame", and added: "But it doesn't let Fauci off the hook from some of the NIH's early missteps during the AIDS crisis, and his assertion early in the current pandemic that wearing masks was not necessary. Fauci doesn’t find its subject perfect, but honest and human." [15] Neal Justin of the Star Tribune wrote: "If the goal was to humanize the 80-year-old talking head, filmmakers John Hoffman and Janet Tobias have succeeded." [16]

Lisa Kennedy of The New York Times wrote that the film "is at its best when it draws parallels between the pandemics that define Dr. Fauci's career", but added: "It vexes when it leans on straightforward biography ... the timing of the documentary’s more traditional biographical gestures feels more appropriate to a retrospective consideration, one that has the current pandemic in the rearview mirror." [17] Danny Leigh of the Financial Times gave the film a score of 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "An admiring film that still ends up doing him a disservice." [18]

Armond White of National Review gave a negative review of the film, writing: "Propagandists who work at the behest of media corporations and institutions willingly bow to authority, and [the film] idolizes Fauci as the face and voice of that authority. Instead of investigating Fauci's despotic sense of moral superiority to enlighten the general public, [National Geographic]'s narrowcast promotional doc chooses persuasion over education." [19] Tony Medley of Larchmont Chronicle gave the film a score of 1/10, saying that "Rather than a 'documentary,' this is akin to agitprop." [20]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryRecipientResultRef.
2021 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Best Historical or Biographical DocumentaryFauciNominated [21]
Best Science/Nature DocumentaryFauciNominated
Most Compelling Living Subjects of a DocumentaryAnthony FauciNominated

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References

  1. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (February 1, 2021). "Dr. Anthony Fauci Documentary In Works At Nat Geo From Oscar And Emmy Winners; Watch First Trailer". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  2. ↑ Hammond, Pete (August 31, 2021). "'Fauci' Trailer: Nat Geo's Enlightening New Docu On The Nation's Top Doctor (Plus Why It Was Shot In Secret Because Of Trump)". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Davis, Edward (August 31, 2021). "'Fauci' Trailer: NatGeo's New Doc About A Dedicated Public Servant Was Shot In Secret". The Playlist. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  4. ↑ Tomlinson, Hugh (September 25, 2021). "Anthony Fauci faces the critics as documentary hits screens". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  5. ↑ Hammond, Pete (September 1, 2021). "Telluride Film Festival: Will Smith's 'King Richard', Peter Dinklage Musical 'Cyrano', Joaquin Phoenix In 'C'mon C'mon', Ken Branagh's 'Belfast' Set To Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Telluride Film Festival Program Guide" (PDF). Telluride Film Festival . Archived from the original (PDF) on September 1, 2021. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  7. ↑ "National Geographic Documentary Films Sets Fauci Theatrical Release Date With Magnolia Pictures for Sept. 10". BusinessWire . August 31, 2021. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Fauci". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved May 22, 2022. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  9. ↑ "Fauci". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  10. ↑ Lowry, Brian (October 5, 2021). "'Fauci' celebrates a life marked by public service – and more recently, political attacks". CNN. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  11. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (September 16, 2021). "Fauci review – laudatory but lenient portrait of the US vaccine czar". The Guardian . Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  12. ↑ Ehrlich, David (September 3, 2021). "'Fauci' Review: America's Doctor Gets a Fittingly Dry and Straightforward Documentary". IndieWire. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  13. ↑ Porter, Edward (September 16, 2021). "Five new films for this weekend: Fauci, Rose Plays Julie and more". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  14. ↑ Abele, Robert (September 9, 2021). "Review: 'Fauci' illuminates even as it flatters 'America's doctor'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  15. ↑ Johnson, G. Allen. "Review: 'Fauci' shows how a mild-mannered infectious disease expert became a cultural lightning rod". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  16. ↑ Hewitt, Chris; Justin, Neal (October 6, 2021). "Netflix's 'Diana: The Musical' is a royal pain". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  17. ↑ Kennedy, Lisa (September 9, 2021). "'Fauci' Review: The First Pandemic That Shaped the Good Doc". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  18. ↑ Leigh, Danny (September 15, 2021). "Fauci – documentary gives glimpses of the man behind the mask" . Financial Times. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  19. ↑ White, Armond (September 10, 2021). "Fauci, a Phony Big-Screen Doc". National Review . Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Fauci". www.tonymedley.com. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  21. ↑ Hammond, Pete (October 18, 2021). "'Ascension', 'Summer Of Soul', Nat Geo's 'The Rescue' And 'Becoming Cousteau' Lead Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved October 30, 2021.
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