What the critics are saying



“Fascinating!” - Ella Taylor, LA Weekly Critic’s Pick

“For all the nastiness of this year’s presidential campaign, the downward spiral into ever-meaner electioneering really started about 20 years ago…“Boogie Man,” a new film by Stefan Forbes, details Mr. Atwater’s impish, strangely seductive charm, his mean boogie guitar and mostly his political chicanery. A lot of the latter sounds very familiar to anyone following the 2008 campaign.” - click for full New York Times Editorial

“In the can’t-look-away documentary “Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story,” the career of the wildly successful, and wildly controversial, late Republican political operative comes back to us in ways that are funny, sad and mean. There is more than one moment in this film that will likely pop your jaw open…Wow.” - click for Washington Post review

Stefan Forbes’ incisive portrait of the late, infamous Republican consultant is a chronicle of how the culture 
war took over American politics. 
As such, it could scarcely be more timely. (Karl Rove was Atwater’s protégé.)…In terrific clips, we see the scampish gleam of mischief that shot out of Atwater’s steely eyes, giving him the look of a honky-tonk Daniel Craig. His great strategy, and legacy, was the art of lying out in the open. He saw that character assassination invades media like an airborne virus — that even a lie can become its own ”truth.” click for article by Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

“Atwater’s spirit roars back to life…a compelling portrait…bracing…worth watching. The movie isn’t a knee-jerk lefty hit job. In fact, it shows that Atwater was a runaway success not just because he was a devious political operator, but because, in the words of one liberal reporter Forbes interviewed, the sass-talking, guitar-playing Atwater “was the most fun man I ever met.” - click for full article by Patrick Goldstein, LA Times

“Boogie Man is a must-see” - Jonathan Martin, Politico.com

“Immensely relevant, compelling…Honestly, every adult in America should see it before casting another vote.” - Elizabeth Weitzman, NY Daily News

“The pic is sure to win votes in election season with specialty distribs and public tube mavens…Vid lensing and roster of on-camera friends and experts is faultless, while Forbes’ editing is a model of sharp pacing.” - Variety, Critic’s Pick

“As timely as it is comprehensive… sure to resonate far and wide with viewers. An often hilariously shocking eighty-five minutes of screentime that prides itself on personable interviews and a plethora of fantastic found footage.” - click for Indiewire.com

“A compelling, timely, and provocative film.” - Barbara Kopple, filmmaker

“Rambunctious…eye-opening” - The New York Sun

“Mesmerizing, remarkable…a sensationally entertaining doc… it could cash in on election fever and rope in some true believers on both sides, perhaps even drawing Oscar’s attention…writer/director Stefan Forbes has crafted one of the most useful and eye-opening political documentaries of our times.” - click for BoxOffice.com

“Under Forbes’ skillful direction, as well as the steady producing hand of Noland Walker (whose previous credit as producer and writer, Jonestown, must have given him an education in the dark side), Boogie Man gathers an impressive cast of characters—campaign managers and politicians on both sides of the aisle, journalists, pundits, longtime friends, and Atwater’s most maligned victims, Michael and Kitty Dukakis—as well as footage of Bush pere and fils, Rove, Dick Cheney and many others to tell the story. But what works best in the film is the subtext—the long, deep, dark history of the Deep South; the ever-festering scar of race in America; the vulnerability of the democratic process…” -Thomas White, editor, Documentary Magazine

“One of the most important films shown this year.” -Allen Maurer, NCFlix.com

“Boogie Man paints a complex portrait of a complex figure…one of the many pleasures of Forbes’s documentary that we hear from people who appreciated and understood all these contradictions.” - James Rocchi, Cinematical.com

“Balanced yet still incendiary” -GreenCine.com

“Gov’t. Mule and Lightning Hopkins are part of the coolest blues soundtrack you will ever hear on a political documentary.”  - Brad Schreiber, Entertainment Today

For footage from the LA Film Festival, click here.