Seymour Hersh is regarded to be one of the most prominent investigative journalists of the latter half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. He has reported on everything from the Vietnam War and Watergate to the Gulf War, The Syrian Civil War, and political crises shaping the world right now. Yet for his notoriety, fame and controversies, he has never been a subject of a documentary. He has repeatedly turned down the offer due to what some have called “paranoia”. Twenty years ago, directors Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus approached Hersh to be the subject of a biographical documentary of his life. He turned it down and told them to never ask again. Now, twenty years after the initial offer, Hersh has finally agreed to be a subject of that documentary. That documentary, Cover-Up, is an enthralling, yet frustrating biographical documentary about one of the most notorious investigative journalists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The documentary opens with Hersh’s investigation into the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War that brought him to worldwide fame. Using archival footage, photography, documents, and Hersh’s narration, Cover-Up retraces the steps of Hersh’s investigation from the phone call from a fellow correspondent informing him of a soldier being court-marshaled for the alleged killings of 75 civilians to the public fallout of the massacre gaining international notoriety. This is when Cover-Up is at its strongest as it showcases Hersh’s investigative process with his personal commentary, notes, and substation-like documents, archival footage, and photography. But after that remarkably strong thirty minute opening, the documentary gradually loses its grip as it transitions into a standard, biographical documentary.
I cannot tell if Cover-Up was initially meant to be a straightforward biographical documentary. In the first thirty minutes, and in a few scattered moments, it felt like the film was reaching for a more intimate portrait of Hersh as it attempted to crack the enigma that is Hersh. Attempting to explore his psyche and his investigative process. How he handles anonymous tips. How he hunts down evidence and corners the right people for interviews. How he decides that the story he is curating is actually true. All of that seems to be the film’s early ambition. But whether because of artistic freedom or because Hersh was not the most cooperative of subjects, the documentary shifts into a more conventional biographic documentary. A documentary that is told non-linearly and never quite returns to the promise of its opening act.
After tracing his investigation into the My Lai Massacre, the documentary falls into a kind of loop. It begins by digging into his childhood and early career, then jumps to whatever topic he is currently covering, then swings back to a major story he covered decades ago, and then the cycle repeats. Each time this pattern returns, the exploration of Hersh’s investigation feels thinner, and less grounded. When the directors press Hersh as to why he trusts certain sources and dismisses others, he becomes hostile towards the crew. When they push him again to confront some of his missteps, including the false information he published in his book, The Dark Side of Camelot, he threatens to walk away from the crew and documentary all together. While his hostility makes him an interesting subject, it is clear he was a bit exhausting to work with and his hostility may have had the production spiraling into its own loop.
While I mourn the potential that was wasted, I was still enthralled by Cover-Up. The amount of restored archival footage, photographs, and historical documents the documentary pieces together with Hersh’s commentary is incredibly impressive. And even though Hersh is not the most cooperative of subjects, when he does choose to engage with the filmmakers he becomes a fascinating subject as he is still sharp as hell at nearly ninety-years-old. In the end, Cover-Up is an essential viewing for journalists.
My Rating: B
Coming to Netflix December 26th.
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