- Network: HBO
- Series Premiere Date: Jul 23, 2012
Critic Reviews
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Outspoken yet charismatic, politically radical yet traditionalist in his love of family, the man is captured in all his complexity.
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It's a nicely assembled, topical film that gives us both a sweeping view of gay rights across almost 30 years, as well as an intimate look at an extraordinary person swept up in those times.
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The smooth telling of Russo's story juxtaposed against the present day, when gay marriage is sanctioned in some states and gay characters are all over prime-time television, drives home how different the cultural landscape is from the one Russo knew.
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As a documentary, Vito is fairly straightforward, but by finding a thread connecting Russo's life, his passions and his times, it manages to be something more.
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Schwartz's workmanlike film nonetheless gives us a detailed portrait of the man as well as the activist.
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The first half of Vito plays almost like a 45-minute "It Gets Better" ad. [Then] Vito exchanges its subtle storytelling technique for a sobering session of gay rights homework, resembling a recent raft of documentaries about the early years of the AIDS crisis.