Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself

A remarkable doc about a life well lived.

He was many things, the documentary reveals, but self-serious was not among the late writer’s lengthy list of descriptors.

A skilled portrait of a literary light shadowed by his public profile. The film, written and directed by Tom Bean and Luke Poling, tacitly suggests a reconsideration of its subject, who deserves it.

Tom Bean and Luke Poling’s documentary shows that its subject’s true talent may have been for an occupation no less rarefied than the ones he failed at: movie star.

Directors Tom Bean and Luke Poling never shy away from the possibility that Plimpton at times was more a personality than a serious writer.

An entertaining profile of the self-avowed participatory journalist and his tumultuous life and times.

Its looseness adequately portrays Plimpton as an inwardly conflicted figure, but it fails to make much of a case for his legacy outside of The Paris Review's still-noticeable brand.