Directors DiMauro and Pehme fully recognize that these supposed rebels-and Gaetz in particular-are bald-faced hypocrites who don't walk their own talk.

| Feb 2, 2021

Yet while I didn't come out of "The Swamp" with any more respect for Republican lawmakers than when I went in (okay, maybe a smidgen in a couple of cases), I did find the film and Gaetz equally fascinating.

| Aug 24, 2020

Comes at politics from a rather odd angle, trying to make earnest points about politics while following around the ridiculous Matt Gaetz.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 21, 2020

A must-watch dissection of how politics became sports and why we can't afford to keep treating it that way.

| Original Score: A- | Aug 14, 2020

"The Swamp" is full of insights and tasty details about how the culture of Washington operates.

| Aug 6, 2020

By arguing this is a bipartisan issue, the doc pushes talking points that will make it harder, not easier, to fix our multiple, overlapping political catastrophes.

| Aug 5, 2020

You'll learn more about how Congress works (insomuch as it doesn't).

| Aug 4, 2020

An interesting look inside anyway.

| Aug 4, 2020

Focusing on Gaetz's political fame is nowhere near as interesting as defining the swamp and how politicians walk the fine line of fundraising in light of the guidelines imposed upon them by their party.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 4, 2020

The Swamp is watchable and full of interesting pieces of Congressional trivia, some that I actually hadn't known previously. It's still a railroaded documentary.

| Aug 4, 2020

The documentary's most useful tactic is how it demonstrates the ways that hyper-partisanship, and hateful rhetoric on both sides, is actually serving the corrupt status quo far more effectively than any outright bribery ever could.

| Original Score: B | Aug 4, 2020

It turns out to be all talk for the most part, but it is an interesting conversation, and an intriguing, if sometimes flawed, film.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 4, 2020

"The Swamp" is watchable mainly for its willingness to hang around with the likes of 38-year-old Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and give him a fair and up-close chance to explain himself as a self-styled iconoclast.

| Aug 4, 2020

The film proves less about dredging the swamp than the filmmakers gaining the opportunity to provide a close-up view of what it's like to muck around in it, a process that offers less clarity or insight than advertised.

| Aug 3, 2020

The documentary starts in a fair and balanced fashion before the bias kicks in.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 3, 2020