Koch

Name: Koch
Genre: Biography, History, Documentary
Released: February 1, 2013
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 71
Cast: Edward I. Koch

2013

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Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews

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Koch

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Movie Details & Credits

Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: February 1, 2013 | Not Rated

Starring: Edward I. Koch

Summary: Former Mayor Ed Koch ruled New York from 1978 to 1989—a down-and-dirty decade of grit, graffiti, near-bankruptcy and rampant crime. Making his directorial debut, former Wall Street Journal reporter Neil Barsky has crafted an intimate and revealing portrait of this intensely private man and the town he helped transform. Through candidFormer Mayor Ed Koch ruled New York from 1978 to 1989—a down-and-dirty decade of grit, graffiti, near-bankruptcy and rampant crime. Making his directorial debut, former Wall Street Journal reporter Neil Barsky has crafted an intimate and revealing portrait of this intensely private man and the town he helped transform. Through candid interviews and rare archival footage, Koch thrillingly chronicles the personal and political toll of running the world’s most wondrous city in a time of upheaval and reinvention. [Zeitgeist Films]… Expand

Director: Neil Barsky

Genre(s): Biography, History, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 100 min

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Critic Reviews

Noel Murray

Jan 30, 2013

Neil Barsky's Koch doesn't try to do anything radical as a piece of filmmaking, but Barsky - a former newspaper reporter - covers Koch's story magnificently as a journalist. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Feb 6, 2013

As a politico, Ed Koch loved power a little too much. But as a leader, he was a storybook embodiment of New York's contradictions, which is why his chapters in the city's saga loom so large. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

Feb 28, 2013

Koch the film makes the point without belaboring it — a mayor and a metropolis linked by tumultuous events in the worst and best of times. Read full review

David Edelstein

Jan 29, 2013

The film is a canny balancing act, making Koch's arrogance so plain that you quickly move past it and concede that he accomplished remarkable things for a city that was broke and in chaos and with much of its housing stock in ruins. Read full review

Bill Goodykoontz

Mar 1, 2013

Barsky’s film is light on biographical detail before Koch’s first term began, in 1978. That’s probably fitting. Koch obviously lived for the job. Read full review

Jan 30, 2013

Neil Barsky is aware of how a great and terribly troubling person can reside in the same body, but his occasional eagerness to appoint himself as his subject's latest press agent is dubious. Read full review

David Fear

Jan 29, 2013

The result is neither blind idolatry nor a definitive portrait; just a major missed opportunity content to loiter in the middle of the road. Read full review

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TVJerry

Mar 17, 2013

This is a doc about Ed Koch, a strong-willed, outspoken mayor of New York City. In addition to excerpts from interviews with him and his contemporaries, there's lots of historical footage (most of which is in distractingly bad blown-up video). The film seems to spend more time on his majorThis is a doc about Ed Koch, a strong-willed, outspoken mayor of New York City. In addition to excerpts from interviews with him and his contemporaries, there's lots of historical footage (most of which is in distractingly bad blown-up video). The film seems to spend more time on his major controversies than on his accomplishments and there's nothing inventive about the way it's presented. Just a straightforward doc.… Expand

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