''Where's My Roy Cohn?'' is a 2019 documentary film, directed by

Matt Tyrnauer Matt Tyrnauer is an American film director. He directed the documentary feature ''Valentino: The Last Emperor'' (2009), which was short listed for an Oscar (award), Oscar nomination in 2010, ''Citizen Jane: Battle for the City'' (2016), the Emmy ...

, and produced by Matt Tyrnauer,

Marie Brenner Marie Harriet Brenner (born December 15, 1949) is an American author, investigative journalist and writer-at-large for '' Vanity Fair''. She has also written for ''New York'', ''The New Yorker'' and the ''Boston Herald'' and has taught at Columbi ...

, Corey Reeser, Joyce Deep, and Andrea Lewis. The film stars American lawyer

Roy Cohn Roy Marcus Cohn (; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor who came to prominence for his role as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, when he assisted McCarth ...

as himself, alongside

Ken Auletta Kenneth B. Auletta (born April 23, 1942) is an American author, a political columnist for the New York Daily News, and media critic for ''The New Yorker''. Early life and education The son of an Italian American father and a Jewish American mo ...

Anne Roiphe Anne Roiphe (born December 25, 1935) is an American writer and journalist. She is best known as a first-generation feminist and author of the novel ''Up the Sandbox'' (1970), filmed as a starring vehicle for Barbra Streisand in 1972. In 1996, ' ...

Roger Stone Roger Jason Stone (born Roger Joseph Stone Jr.; August 27, 1952) is an American conservative political consultant and lobbyist. Since the 1970s, Stone has worked on the campaigns of Republican politicians, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Rea ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, and

Barbara Walters Barbara Jill Walters (born September 25, 1929) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including ...

. The title is reported to be a quote from President

, as he discussed Attorney General

Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United State ...

's recusal from the

Mueller Investigation The Mueller special counsel investigation was an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials, and possible obstruction of justice by Trump and his ...

Plot

The film looks into New York attorney

whose career ranged from Senator

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

to real estate developer

. In 1951, Cohn is a 24-year-old legal assistant at the office of

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

J. Howard McGrath James Howard McGrath (November 28, 1903September 2, 1966) was an American politician and attorney from Rhode Island. McGrath, a Democrat, served as U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island before becoming governor, U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Sen ...

at the Justice Department. The "Communist menace" according to one of the commentators was preoccupying the public in the 1950s. Cohn serves on the prosecution team in the trial of

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were American citizens who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. The couple were convicted of providing top-secret i ...

. The commentators accuse judge

Irving Kaufman Irving Robert Kaufman (June 24, 1910 – February 1, 1992) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern Dist ...

of judicial misconduct. Cohn graduates from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

at the age of 20; he is admitted to the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

in 1948—at the age of 21. In the 1940s and 1950s, being gay was widely seen a negative trait; people in positions of power in government weren't permitted to be LGBT. Cohn served as legal counsel during the

Lavender scare The "lavender scare" was a moral panic about homosexual people in the United States government which led to their mass dismissal from government service during the mid-20th century. It contributed to and paralleled the anti-communist campaign wh ...

in the 1950s. The commentators claim that there was " romantic crush" between David Schine and Cohn. Since being gay was a pejorative in the 1950s, the opposing counsel

Joseph N. Welch Joseph Nye Welch (October 22, 1890 – October 6, 1960) was an American lawyer and actor who served as the chief counsel for the United States Army while it was under investigation for Communist activities by Senator Joseph McCarthy's Senate Pe ...

in the

Army–McCarthy hearings The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of televised hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations (April–June 1954) to investigate conflicting accusations between the United States Army and U.S. Senator Joseph ...

made many homophobic remarks against Cohn.

After 1955

Cohen develops close ties with

Cardinal Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an American bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 1939 until his death in 1967, he served as the sixth Archbishop of New York; he had previously served as an auxiliary ...

in New York. Cohn's great uncle was a founder of

Lionel, LLC Lionel, LLC is an American designer and importer of toy trains and model railroads that is headquartered in Concord, North Carolina. Its roots lie in the 1969 purchase of the Lionel product line from the Lionel Corporation by cereal conglomerate ...

train company. Cohn was engaged to

for a while.

1970s

Carmine Galante Carmine Galante (; February 21, 1910 – July 12, 1979) was an American mobster. Galante was rarely seen without a cigar hanging from is mouth, leading to the nickname "The Cigar" and "Lilo" (a Sicilian term for cigar). Galante had a long career ...

and

Anthony Salerno Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno (August 15, 1911 – July 27, 1992) was an American mobster who served as underboss and front boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 until his conviction in 1986. Early life Salerno was born and ...

hire Cohn as their attorney.

1980s

Donald Trump hires Cohn as his attorney. They first meet at the Le Club in Manhattan when Trump is 23 years old. In interviews with

Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...

and

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program ...

, Cohn repeatedly and expressely states that he isn't gay; furthermore, he states that he doesn't have AIDS. The commentators say that Cohn had developed

HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) are neurological disorders associated with HIV infection and AIDS. It is a syndrome of progressive deterioration of memory, cognition, behavior, and motor function in HIV-infected individuals during t ...

shortly before dying.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's consensus reads, "It's blunt rather than balanced, but ''Where's My Roy Cohn?'' does what it sets out to do, offering a disquieting summary of its subject's life and legacy."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews." Leah Greenblatt of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' wrote, "Tyrnauer smartly doesn’t overplay the symbolism of their relationship, or work too hard to connect the dots; it’s all there to take or leave in the film’s shrewd, illuminating exploration of a man whose influence, for better or worse, may have far outdone even his wildest dreams". David Klion of ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'' wrote, "As a portrait of Cohn, the documentary is riveting".

Justin Chang Justin Choigee Chang (born January 3, 1983) is an American film critic and columnist for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He previously worked for ''Variety''. Early life Justin Chang graduated from the University of Southern California in 2004. Chan ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote, "The movie can’t fully disguise its glee as it lingers over the particulars of Cohn’s death — or, for that matter, its all-too-convincing lament that his spirit is still alive and well". Brian Lowry of ''

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

'' wrote, "''Where's My Roy Cohn?'' is by no means a flattering portrait; rather, the film portrays Cohn as being emblematic of everything that's wrong with politics, class disparity and the current toxic political environment". Katherine Steinbach of ''Nonfics'' wrote, "Matt Tyrnauer’s scintillating, gossipy, heavy-handed documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn? delves into Cohn’s contradictions without much illumination".

Armond White Armond White (born ) is an American film and music critic who writes for ''National Review'' and ''Out''. He was previously the editor of '' CityArts'' (2011–2014), the lead film critic for the alternative weekly ''New York Press'' (1997–201 ...

of the ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...

'' wrote, "''Where’s My Roy Cohn?'' typifies the “Gotcha” doc, a genre of the Fake News era that ignores objectivity and fairness in order to press politicized righteousness". Charles Bramesco of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' wrote, "Anyone with the vaguest consciousness of American political history doesn’t need 97 minutes to learn that this dead-eyed ethical vacuum was a bad person, or even the depth of his badness".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=tt7193362, title= Films directed by Matt Tyrnauer Sony Pictures Classics films 2010s English-language films