'Weiner' doc looks at politician's fall from grace

The political documentary "Weiner" unfolds like an epic, dramatic tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, especially when its two main characters possess such readable faces that they can't help but communicate their every mood, thought and feeling. Seasoned actors could learn something here.

"Weiner" opens with a summary of former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner's 2011 fall from grace after he began sexting messages to women, accompanied by photos of his private parts.

Two years later, after mending fences with the public and his wife, Huma Abedin (a longtime ally of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton), Weiner launches a failed 2013 bid to become New York's mayor.

Former Weiner aide Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg direct this movie, and their intimate behind-the-scenes access to the campaign and the Weiners' private lives provides 96 minutes of "must-see" material, all about an ego so big, only an electorate could stop it.

Smart, volatile and aggressive, Weiner seems to be gaining political traction in his run for mayor - until a second wave of naughty photos and sexting messages hits the news.

Weiner goes into survival mode, shouting, dodging, attacking and defending, determined to triumph over yet another round of undeniable breaches of public trust.

The ex-congressman may be the main star in this Greek tragedy about a high-positioned hero with a fatal flaw, but Abedin supplies its heart and conscience.

Watch her eyes, face and body language as she absorbs the escalating dishonesty of her husband, yet remains cool and controlled while being pummeled by even more outrageous revelations.

"Weiner" entertains us with a political train wreck in the making. You can't look away even as it comes up short on the tough questions, such as "Why?"

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell bluntly asks Weiner, "What's wrong with you?" a question never answered in this doc. Maybe it doesn't need to be.

As Marshall McLuhan notes at the start of this movie, "The name of a man is a numbing blow from which he never recovers."