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Koch Play Trailer

Koch (2013)

tomatometer

81

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 3

No consensus yet.

audience

73

liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 289

My Rating

Movie Info

Former Mayor Ed Koch is the quintessential New Yorker. Still ferocious, charismatic, and hilariously blunt, the now 87-year-old Koch ruled New York from 1978 to 1989-a down-and-dirty decade of grit, graffiti, near-bankruptcy and rampant crime. First-time filmmaker (and former Wall Street Journal reporter) Neil Barsky has crafted an intimate and revealing portrait of this intensely private man, his legacy as a political titan, and the town he helped transform. The tumult of his three terms

Unrated,

Documentary

$0.3M

Zeitgeist Films - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (36) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (32) | Rotten (4)

He was certainly combative, and confident, and full of love for the city he governed with such gusto. Koch is a New York story for the whole world to appreciate.

April 26, 2013 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Inquirer
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What he really was was one of a kind. Whether intentionally or not, "Koch" shows that that's not necessarily a bad thing.

April 11, 2013 Full Review Source: Boston Globe
Boston Globe
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An emphasis on Koch the character obscures his administration.

March 14, 2013 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
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Though the film, more than two years in the making, was never intended as such, it plays like the kind of eulogy Koch would have approved - neither fawning nor eviscerating but always compelling.

March 1, 2013 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
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The film advances no theories to explain his contradictions, only a thrilling, sometimes affecting account of what he did.

February 28, 2013 Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal
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"How'm I doin'?" Koch famously asked anyone and everyone he passed by, rarely hanging around for the answer. In "Koch," for the most part, he does all right.

February 28, 2013 Full Review Source: Arizona Republic
Arizona Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Forget "A Tale of Two Cities:" - the documentary "Koch" is a tale of two mayors. At LEAST two.

May 9, 2013 Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

The film neither glorifies nor vilifies. Instead, it treats triumphs and controversies with equal balance.

May 8, 2013 Full Review Source: Oregonian
Oregonian

A fascinating, multi-faceted look at a very complicated man, a quintessential New Yorker who was both an uncommonly skilled politician and, at times, a tremendous jerk.

May 2, 2013 Full Review Source: EntertainmentTell
EntertainmentTell

The gift of Koch is that it embraces the clutter and volume of opinion about the man.

April 18, 2013 Full Review Source: Shared Darkness
Shared Darkness

Captures the man, burnishes the myth and remembers the "mouth."

March 16, 2013 Full Review Source: Movie Nation
Movie Nation

First-time filmmaker Neil Barsky does a generally remarkable job shuttling back and forth between clips from archival footage...and an intimate 2010 interview he conducted of Koch.

March 5, 2013 Full Review Source: Movie Dearest
Movie Dearest

Neil Barsky's contentious documentary turns into a celebratory eulogy for the outspoken, opportunistic octogenarian.

March 2, 2013 Full Review Source: SSG Syndicate
SSG Syndicate

Barsky gained Koch's cooperation on the film -- the filmmaker interviewed his subject extensively -- yet his portrait of the man shows both his good and bad sides.

March 1, 2013 Full Review Source: Paste Magazine
Paste Magazine

The former mayor is an alert onscreen presence, but the film surrounding him is not always so lively.

February 28, 2013 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle

The rise and fall from grace of a good Jewish boy gone bad who ostensibly sold out the Big Apple but never summoned up the courage to come out of the closet.

February 10, 2013 Full Review Source: AALBC.com
AALBC.com

Even if he stomped on your special interest you can't deny that he did it with a sui generis verve that mixed region-specific curmudgeon-ism and impish joie de vivre

February 4, 2013 Full Review Source: Badass Digest

A thoughtful look at the fundamental reasons a down-and-out city was primed to embrace this larger-than-life cheerleader for all things Gotham.

February 1, 2013 Full Review Source: amNewYork
amNewYork

Audience Reviews for Koch

where is it playing in 91732
February 6, 2013
Koch wasn't perfect but he was a character, and watching this movie while living in NYC today sure makes you appreciate the stuff he got right. R.I.P.
February 3, 2013
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