Honest Man feels as if it could use either more focus on the case or a longer running time to achieve its aims.
I was a freshman in college when then Pennsylvania State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer committed suicide at a press conference in January, 1987. Looking back, I remember the coverage of the event more than the details that led up to it. The local newspaper printed a picture of Dwyer with the gun in his mouth on the front page. But it wasn’t until I recently watched the 2010 documentary, Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer, that I learned some of the background of that awful day.
Dwyer is portrayed as a simple, hard-working man who grew to love political science and the virtues of democracy. From his modest, small-town upbringing to his willingness to meet with anyone who wanted to speak with him, Dwyer comes across as someone who took the responsibilities of elected office seriously. He considered himself lucky to have come up through the political ranks without affluence or a family legacy to open doors for him. When accused of accepting a bribe to offer a state contract to a computer company, he was shocked that anyone would believe he was guilty. When he was found guilty by a jury, this once jovial man descended into deep depression and ultimately committed suicide.
Director/co-writer James Dirschberger tries to simultaneously craft a compelling portrait of Dwyer, tackle the complicated details of the bribery allegations, and also deal with the fallout of his public suicide. For a film with a 75 minute running time, it’s too ambitious a goal to meet. The documentary successfully puts forth a convincing argument that Dwyer was a decent, if naïve, man who may have been too trusting of those around him. Once the subject of the bribery enters the picture, the movie becomes muddled as there are just so many details that are glossed over.
As a result, Honest Man feels as if it could use more focus on the case or a longer running time to achieve its aims. What we’re left with is a collection of interviews with family, friends, and political counterparts who all express their opinions that Mr. Dwyer was innocent. But since the evidence as presented in the film feels incomplete or jumbled, I walked away knowing barely more than I did prior to viewing the film. At best, this is an introduction to the bribery case but in no way do I feel it’s a well-rounded look at it.
The film succeeds in making the point that no one would care about this case anymore had Dwyer taken sleeping pills or simply gone to jail. The gruesome way that Dwyer protested his innocence keeps people’s interest in the case alive. Maybe in the future, someone will put the puzzle pieces together in a way that explicitly confirms his guilt or innocence. Unfortunately, Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer is not that documentary.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
