65
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmRogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmMonsters like Cohn are created by a nation that judges its people based on the level of their clout rather than the content of their character. Cohn embodies the primal urge to succeed at all costs, and the first step toward defeating him is to root him out in ourselves.
- 75The PlaylistAndrew CrumpThe PlaylistAndrew CrumpBully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn isn’t really about justice, per se, but about peeling back the layers on the man.
- 75CNNBrian LowryCNNBrian LowryWhat sets Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn apart is the personal connection for director Ivy Meeropol, the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
- 75The Associated PressMark KennedyThe Associated PressMark KennedyObjectivity is not Meeropol’s goal here but better understanding of who this slippery character is, and this film succeeds in that.
- 70VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanBully. Coward. Victim. isn’t as authoritative a chronicle as “Where’s My Roy Cohn?,” but in its loosely anecdotal way it may bring us a notch or two closer to who Roy Cohn was.
- 70Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonWall Street JournalJohn AndersonAnyone expecting some kind of righteously indignant, stentorian rant from Ms. Meeropol will be disappointed. In fact, she does something far more surgical: She makes Cohn ridiculous. She makes him close to an object of pity. He would have hated nothing more. Call it revenge by pathos.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckWhile that personal connection lends an undeniably poignant aspect, the film never quite fully captures the essence of the enigmatic legal and political fixer.
- 60The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergLong stretches are not a personal reckoning but an overview; many details overlap with “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” from last year, although the clips here are at least as good. It is also more sympathetic to Cohn than either Cohn’s reputation or the familial animosity would suggest.
- The second recent documentary focused on Roy Cohn, Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story Of Roy Cohn is as stuffed and jumbled as its title’s punctuation. Despite this, the film manages to inject some genuine personality into its Wiki reckoning of Cohn’s cursed résumé.
- 40TheWrapDan CallahanTheWrapDan CallahanThe structure here is haphazard, to say the least, and there is a serious lack of concentration and follow-through. Too much ground is covered too quickly, and often confusingly.