Review – An Unlikely Weapon

Once again an artist proves nowhere near as interesting as his art. Eddie Adams is best known for his iconic 1968 photo of South Vietnamese police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan shooting Vietcong officer Nguyen Van Lem in the head. So naturally a fair amount of screen time goes to the photographer’s Vietnam experience. And that’s fine, as much of the rest of his career was devoted to less interesting subjects. In fairness, he did a fair amount of solid, non-war-related photojournalism. However, he also did a fair amount of celebrity portraiture, not bad stuff but not as impressive as his legendary shots. Likewise, the interviews with Adams and footage of his seminars at his rural New York retreat weren’t all that inspirational. Perhaps that’s why he’s known as a photographer and not a memoir writer. Mildly amusing