Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn

2019

1h 37m

Documentary

List

74%

38 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

Filmmaker Ivy Meeropol examines the fascinating and controversial life of high-profile lawyer Roy Cohn.

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Critics Consensus

Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn is disappointingly limited in its focus, but Cohn remains a fascinating -- albeit repellent -- subject.

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Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

Meeropol - a granddaughter of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were executed for espionage largely because of Cohn's efforts - exposes her subject's lifelong hypocrisy throughout her engaging and infuriating film.

Jul 13, 2020

Full Review

Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

I think that the film would have been more interesting if it had really focused on what Roy Cohn meant to this family, the Meeropols.

Jun 24, 2020

Full Review

Christy Lemire

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

It's very interesting and watchable, although I don't think it's particularly revelatory.

Jun 24, 2020

Full Review

Brian T. Carney

Washington Blade

Meeropol makes a compelling case for Cohn as “bully,” she doesn’t make a clear case for Cohn as “coward” or “victim”.

May 19, 2022

Full Review

David Reddish

Queerty

As the granddaughter of the Rosenbergs, Meeropol has every reason to hate Cohn. How shocking then that she manages to show so much empathy for the man.

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 20, 2022

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Milana Vujkov

Lola On Film

Who would have thought, [Roy] Cohen's life, as existential tragedy.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 31, 2021

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david f

A personal take on the notorious attorney.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

victor o

Having already seen a documentary on Roy Cohn I decided to check this one out to see whether or not it was better. Unfortunately, it's not. This HBO Films documentary is incredibly biased with other films being fairer. Why? This movie is directed by Ivy Meeropol, the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The very people Roy Cohn had prosecuted as spies. Even my high school history teacher could tell you that is a clear-cut sign of bias. I have read up on Roy Cohn here and there whenever I looked up McCarthyism in my history classes, he always seemed to be a very minor figure. It has been only in documentaries – this one as well as others, and in dramatizations of his life is his importance truly stated. Roy Marcus Cohn was a lawyer who grew to prominence in the 1940s and 1950s during the Cold War hysteria of the time. From working as a prosecutor assisting Irving Saypol's case against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to Joseph McCarthy's numerous federal investigations against Communists in the US State Department to the US Army. On the surface, this truly is someone who deserves respect and acclaim, but as this documentary shows, rife with scandal. However, there is not one moment of honest respect, it is merely a one-sided assault on a dead man's character. Ivy Meeropol presents this documentary through various interviews and archival footage. Most prominent is those involving her father Michael, particularly in his struggle to challenge the government's case against his parents. Believing it to be a travesty of justice and the years it took to obtain the information the government used against his father. It shows that the long-sought information did prove that Julius Rosenberg was a spy. But make no mistake, this documentary is not about proving the innocence of the Rosenbergs. It is a declaration of hatred for Roy Marcus Cohn and in no way a vindication of the family. Citing everything from Rosenberg's trial to Cohn's downfall at the US Army hearings with Joseph McCarthy. Piling on this are interviews from Cohn's family members, reporters, politicians, friends, neighbors even entertainers all who vehemently criticize Cohn. The main message is that Roy Cohn was a bad man, nothing more. I believe that this is wrong, this is not a film that should have been made and that to call this a documentary is insulting to those who wish to educate themselves. This is outright propaganda from persons whose hatred is blinding to what Roy Cohn did in the service to his country. He is called evil, sociopathic, an ogre, and so many other insults. This is a man who used his profession to serve his country against a form of government that brought about pain, death, and destruction upon the world and he stood up to face this dangerous threat to his country. Yes, he profited and benefited himself and others on attacking the character of loyal citizens. But the director of this documentary shows none of this man's virtue, only the biases that have shaped her family's point of view. A point of view that many belief is misguided. All that is done here is criticize a man, from his memorial in which this documentary takes its title from enjoying his harassment by a twisted businessman and mocking the final years of his life. Make no mistake, Roy Cohn was no saint, but there is nothing to gain in making a film like this. It would have been better if it had testimonials of people that knew and supported Cohn or if they compare Cohn's antics with what communism had done in other countries and how it continues to do worse than anything Cohn has done. Find something better than this propaganda.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Ivy Meeropol examines the fascinating and controversial life of high-profile lawyer Roy Cohn.

Director: Ivy Meeropol
Production Co: HBO Documentary Films, Motto Pictures
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 19, 2020
Runtime: 1h 37m

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