Burn, Babies, Burn

Noujaim and Hegedus put long hours into following govWorks’ staff through every waking moment, and the footage is simply incredible — there’s no other word for it — a testament not only to their own watchful tenacity, but to how much trust they engendered in their subjects (at Sundance, Tuzman told the press that he actually liked the film). Herman and Tuzman’s darkest, most conflicted moments play out before a jittery hand-held camera that aggressively jockeys for a better view of the wreckage. It’s a moviemaking style that’s become self-consciously popular since Lars von Trier placed it among his Dogma 95 articles of faith, but in Startup.comthe roughness seems appropriate, even necessary, like the cracking voice of newscaster Herbert Morrison as he watched the Hindenburg crumble in flames. When Tuzman, strung out on trouble, having fired Herman with a terse letter, gratuitously assigns a staffer to escort his friend out of the building, the wobbly camera trails the two men down the stairs.

GovWorks’ staff, which had peaked at 250, plummeted to a straggling 60 at the end of 2000; its remaining assets were sold to another Internet firm, eONE Global, in early 2001. At the close of the film, Tuzman is more or less humbled, while Herman, hard-wired against rancor, is once again spotting his buddy at the weight machine. The lessons here are not all tragic. Herman and Tuzman have not only made up, they’ve launched a timely new venture: a consulting service to ailing dot-coms. Recognizing the importance of putting people before things doesn’t, evidently, mean giving up the profit motive.

STARTUP.COM | Directed by JEHANE NOUJAIM and CHRIS HEGEDUS | Produced by D.A. PENNEBAKER, HEGEDUS and NOUJAIM | At the Nuart