WHERE HAVE YOU GONE JIMMY WOODS?

CITIZEN COHN ( 1992: Dir. Frank Pierson)

In the 1980s James Woods was arguably the most exciting American actor working in film and televsion. I followed his career religiously: Videodrome (1983), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Joshua Then and Now (1985) Salvador (1986), Best Seller (1987), Cop (1988), True Believer (1989). I saw them all. When the 1990s came along he seemed to stumble with miscast duds like 1992's Straight Talk (as Dolly Parton's love interest?). He finally put his career back on track with a trio of real-life legal dramas made-for-cable: Citizen Cohn (1992), Indictment:The McMartin Trial (1995) and Dirty Pictures (2000). Having just revisited Citizen Cohn, I was once again reminded that nobody plays a more compelling egomaniac than James Woods. As corrupt counsel to Joe McCarthy's Commie witch hunt hearings, Woods devours the role of Roy Cohn as if it were the last steak dinner of a man on death row. Moral turpitude oozes from every pore of his portrayal. Even his harrowing death from AIDS does little to engender any sympathy for a man who ruined countless lives for his own self-aggrandizement. In our now progressive era of LGBTQ rights, Cohn's denial of his own homosexuality as well as his blackmailing of closeted public figures provides a disturbing history lesson for Donald Trump's America. Later in life Cohn became a mentor to the young Trump, educating him in the ways of malicious threats and legal chicanery. Sadly no reference is made to his Trump ties, instead the audience is enlightened as to Cohn's kinship with the hollowed-out hulk of Joe Don Baker's Senator McCarthy and the sedentarily sleazy J. Edgar Hoover played by Pat Hingle. Special mention should also be made to Frederic Forrest, who in an amusing interrogation scene briefly reprises his laconic Dashiell Hammett performance from Francis Coppola's ill-fated production of Hammett (1982). Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Citizen Cohn remains an uncompromising drama written by David Franzoni (Gladiator), directed by Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon), and fueled by Woods' infectious go-for-broke dynamism. Ironically, Woods has recently claimed that his right wing politics have hampered his career in Hollywood so we have been deprived of his fiery presence in recent years. I for one, hope that he will get another meaningful chance to dazzle us with his rare talent.  DVD REGION 1