It's hard not to admire Barbara Walters' ability to snag interviews with the world's most important people during her 25 years on the TV program 20/20--from American presidents to movie stars to world leaders to notorious criminals, Walters has engaged an impressive roster in one-on-one chats. But while her guest list is mind-boggling, Barbara Walters: 25 on 20/20--a shameless mess of self-devotion--only confirms why Walters was able to roundup so many major names for her TV show; namely, she avoids posing serious and provocative questions, instead lobbing the softest of softball queries and not even blinking when she receives the weakest of replies. While it's obvious that Walters could ill-afford becoming a strident interviewer (no one would want to be her guest in that case), her flabby and flimsy conversations today inspire mostly groans from anyone interested in serious journalism, and this is especially true of her handling of interviewees with notoriously contemptuous attitudes toward the media, such as Vladimir Putin, Rudolph Giuliani, Fidel Castro, and Barbra Streisand. DVD extras include an interview with Walters, colleague tributes, and gooey near-lovefests with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Michael J. Fox in extended interviews (although it would've been more fun to see Walters' infamous smackdowns by Katharine Hepburn and Richard Pryor--which left the interviewer sputtering and shaken--in their entirety). Very optional. Aud: P. (P. Hall)
Barbara Walters: 25 on 20/20
(2005) 115 min. DVD: $19.98. Koch Vision (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. ISBN: 1-4172-2835-0. June 13, 2005
Barbara Walters: 25 on 20/20
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