'Mike Wallace Is Here' looks back at the man who made 'em squirm

In the opening salvo of Avi Belkin's biography of legendary TV reporter and “60 Minutes” star Mike Wallace, “Mike Wallace Is Here,” the iconic Wallace faces down Fox News blusterer Bill O'Reilly, disputing his journalistic stature.

But O'Reilly has a killer comeback waiting for Wallace: “You're the driving force behind my career,” he states, throwing Wallace off his feet, imperceptibly.

It's a controversial notion, but a question that must be investigated. Do the hyperpartisan shouting matches of Fox News bear the DNA of legendary newsman Wallace, who struck fear into the hearts of many?

Belkin argues they do, but also that no one does Wallace like Mike Wallace did.

Belkin's film is an uproariously entertaining and fast-paced documentary that seems to mimic the fiery, determined energy of its protagonist. For those who knew Wallace as one of the elder statesmen of “60 Minutes,” the film takes its time introducing us to the young Wallace, an ambitious yet insecure young man who made his way from radio to TV.

In the early, experimental days of the medium, he essentially invented the television news interview as we know it today: hard-hitting and often piercing personal questions, no publicity fluff.

Someone always had to do it first. Wallace, seeking to prove himself beyond game shows and cosmetics advertisements, took to the opportunity on “Night Beat” to try something new: hard-boiled and tough, puffing cigarettes while pinning his guests on their most sensitive subjects.

It made Wallace a star, inspired copycats and started a revolution in television. He was subsequently scooped up by CBS, where scrappy TV journeyman Wallace had to prove himself next to the likes of iconic TV journalists Walter Cronkite and in the shadow of Edward R. Murrow.

Editing together archival footage (Wallace died in 2012), Belkin stitches together an interview with Wallace himself. Belkin balances the personal and the public of Wallace's life, underpinning the shifts in his career with personal motivations.

After the tragic death of his son Peter in 1962, Wallace threw himself even more into serious journalism; his depression later on in his career also affected his work.

Wallace's inner turmoil, starting in childhood, drove his desire to prove himself, to innovate, to get the story.

He breathes the kind of journalistic ethos that puts the story above all else.

But it's also clear that a strong moral compass consistently kept him on track. Wallace pioneered the form of aggressive investigative TV reporting and deliciously suspenseful “gotcha” moments that later marked trashy news magazine reporting.

But he always did so with a strong grasp of right and wrong, knowing how to punch up, not down (a clip from an interview with Nixon aide John Ehrlichman sweating bullets is hilarious).

“Mike Wallace Is Here” illustrates the legacy and lasting impact of his work while bringing his intimate side to the fore.

It also serves as a sort of “greatest hits,” featuring interviews with Salvador Dali, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Bette Davis, Barbra Streisand, Oprah and most chillingly, Vladimir Putin.

One is left with the impression of Wallace as a defining and singular voice who brought something to his dogged questioning that so many copycats are missing these days - elegance, gentlemanliness and a sense of staunch morality.