History Repeats itself in Live from Baghdad

History Repeats itself: Life from Baghdad Review
Marni Newell
19 Jan 2009

It’s hard to imagine, but once CNN was only an amateur emerging station waiting for its big break into televised news credibility. The station found that break in the Gulf War, which provided a perfect news station equivalent to cotillion, all CNN needed was a charming, sensitive producer and his hard-as-nails date. “Live from Baghdad” provides both with Michael Keaton and Helena Bonham Carter in the lead roles, and an added bonus of a quirky tech staff and slew of reporters played by if not high profile, then at least recognizable faces: Bruce McGill, Lili Taylor, and John Carroll Lynch.
“Live from Baghdad” tells the true story of producer Robert Wiener’s (Keaton) journey to Baghdad during the Gulf War to make a name for himself and his news station, CNN. Weiner, accompanied by co-producer Ingrid Formanek (Bonham Carter) and their hodge-podge crew maintain their sense of humor and direction in the mystical and dangerous country of Iraq, where men are watching their every move and stopping them before they tell too much. Weiner and his crew find creative and sometimes tense-but-funny ways to side-step the country’s censorship laws along with charming their way into good humor with its censorship authorities. “Live from Baghdad” succeeds in portraying bravery and ruthless reporting as well as the regret, humor, and frustrating mistakes that go along with it.
Written by Weiner himself, the script has honest emotions sometimes masked by too-perfect lines: when asked if Weiner wants Formanek to accompany him to Iraq because they’re having an affair, Weiner says, “I want her head, not her ass. She keeps me honest.” The charged relationship between Weiner and Formanek can be distracting and heavy-handed, Weiner speaks of his wife and family maybe three times but entire scenes are dedicated to Weiner’s awkward advances to Formanek and her equally-awkward reactions. The portrayal of confusion, danger, and constant fear of death almost excuse these scenes, but they’re too numerous and intense to be believable enough.
Weiner gives every character his or her own personality and conflict, and the actors do well to follow their written personalities within the precious few moments they have to show it. Keaton’s acting is appropriate for Weiner’s charm balanced with just the right amount of inner turmoil, and Bonham Carter really does keep him honest with a gritty portrayal of a woman who’s been everywhere and seen it all. Meanwhile, the budding relationship between sound tech Judy Parker (Taylor) and cameraman Mark Biello (Joshua Leonard) always appears to lighten the mood with humor and a little bit of cutesy courtship.
The cinematography shows but doesn’t tell, the angles and lighting are always both effective and artistic, and only once or twice did it seem fabricated, which probably only showed the available technology at the time. The score wasn’t overbearing and helped set the mood: in a tumult of colors and street noises and shouting, the light music in the background gave the “Ok” to chuckle, or asked for serious consideration.Even almost two decades later, the panic and confusion portrayed in “Live from Baghdad” feels relevant, especially when CNN leads the way in reporting the conflicts in Iraq and exposing the bitter truth of all sides of the situation. It proves the age-old adage that history really does repeat itself