Citizen Cohn (1992) (TV)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Frank Pierson

Writers (WGA):

Nicolas von Hoffman (biography)
David Franzoni (written by)

Release Date:

22 August 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

He was McCarthy's loyal partner. The Kennedys' worst enemy. The F.B.I.'s best friend. The country's greatest nightmare.

Plot:

As lawyer and power broker Roy Cohn lies dying of AIDS in a private hospital room, ghosts from his past visit him as he reflects on his life and loves.

Plot Keywords:

AIDS | Senator Joseph Mccarthy | Senator | Bribery | Ethics

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 8 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

James Woods	...	Roy Marcus Cohn
Joe Don Baker	...	Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Bologna	...	Walter Winchell
Ed Flanders	...	Joseph N Welch
Frederic Forrest	...	Dashiell Hammett
Lee Grant	...	Dora Cohn
Pat Hingle	...	J. Edgar Hoover
John McMartin	...	Older Doctor
Josef Sommer	...	Albert Cohn
Daniel Benzali	...	Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman
Tovah Feldshuh	...	Iva Schlesinger
John Finn	...	Sen. Charles Potter
Frances Foster	...	First Annie Lee Moss
Allen Garfield	...	Abe Feller
David Marshall Grant	...	Robert F. Kennedy

Runtime:

UK:107 min | USA:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Carnegie Mellon University - 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Breakheart Films

Trivia:

When a tape is played from bugging Martin Luther Kings hotel room, the sounds of people having sex are the same sounds from the sex scene between Jack Nicholson and Sally Struthers in Five Easy Pieces (1970).

Goofs:

Factual errors: As he is scattering ashes into what is purportedly the East River, Cohn says he consigns his mother to the waters of New Jersey, where she did not live. The East River does not border New Jersey.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Older Doctor: Well, at last he did something human. What was he saying?
Peter: He said "Tell me the name of the judge!"

James Woods is Spectacular!

James Woods never disappoints the viewer. He is one of the best actors in Hollywood. Roy Cohn comes alive with Woods. He portrays Cohn as a liar, thief, hypocrite and egomaniac - a brilliant man who wasted his talent. You feel his death from AIDS is his "punishment" for the outrageous nature of his life.

There is, however, a BIG problem with this film. The writer, Nicolas von Hoffman, is allegedly presenting a biography. I "learned" from von Hoffman that Ethel Rosenberg was framed by Cohn and the government, she really didn't spy for the Soviets. I also "learned" that J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolson lived together as "man and wife" for over twenty-five years and that Hoover and Tolson sought out fellow queer Cohn to help smear Robert Kennedy. Please - where is the historical evidence?

The movie was entertaining. Just call it fiction, and not a biography. I don't need some some super liberal Hollywood writer trying to change history for me.