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    • Political films to watch, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Bob Roberts
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    Political films to watch, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Bob Roberts

    Pabio Posted on

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    As Election Day approaches, thoughts turn to past campaigns, as well as films about them.

    From the time DW Griffith released “Birth of a Nation,” political leaders and their best and worst have fueled the silver screen.

    As a long-time movie enthusiast, I offer my top 10 political films for your review, consideration, and perhaps opposition.

    Here they are:

    “Election” (1999)

    Yes, this is an election for high school student body president, but it takes the ego, dirty tricks, and human element that permeate any candidacy for office and confines it to the hallowed halls of academia for teenagers.

    And it’s very funny for both teenagers and their parents.

    Reese Witherspoon, who would win an Oscar six years later as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line,” plays Tracy Flick. She is that overly energetic, driven, intelligent classmate we all remember, often without fondness.

    In her run for higher office, Flick is taking no prisoners and believes she’s done everything to win — from cupcakes with her slogan “Pick Flick” to posters galore and promises, promises, promises. When her professor and election advisor Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) decides that Flick shouldn’t just win by one vote, he recruits sports hero Paul Meltzer (Chris Klein) to oppose her.

    What follows is a pitched battle that offers great gags and rare dark humor, but also a reality check about how campaigns, in high school and in Washington, can spiral out of control.

    “Dave” (1993)

    A simple, uplifting story straight out of Frank Capra’s playbook, in which small-town employment agency owner Dave Kline does his best Jimmy Stewart as he is drawn into a game of deception in Washington that ends up getting better.

    Somehow he is asked to fill in for fictional President Bill Mitchell during an appearance. When Mitchell suffers a stroke, his corrupt chief of staff seeks to keep Dave as president temporarily until he can find a way to have him expelled, his vice president arrested and moved to his place.

    Kline, as Dave, searches for a way to counter the deception, while managing to make positive changes for society along the way.

    Director Ivan Reitman mixes sweet and humorous moments for an underdog story that offers a positive view of what politics could be, while tweaking its negative sides.

    “The American President” (1995)

    Michael Douglas plays a likeable and brilliant commander in chief in this Rob Reiner product as widowed President Andrew Shepard, with future “West Wing” President Martin Sheen as his chief of staff.

    At the opening, Shepard is riding a strong wave of poll numbers, but must pass a crime bill to overcome the obstacle.

    Annette Bening then appears as Sydney political operative Alan Wade, sent to redirect him towards an environmental bill, which sees no political benefit. Eventually, the two find love, but the consequences are politically problematic.

    Reiner and Douglas work on the story of a classic progressive agenda that opposes guns, Central American involvement, and greenhouse gases. Nonetheless, it offers a romantic view of Washington’s battles and attacks, with a positive ending that could satisfy romantics and political junkies alike.

    ‘Mr. Smith goes to Washington (1939)

    Before George Bailey confronts Mr. Potter at Bedford Falls, Jefferson Smith, a naive young leader of the Rangers from an unnamed Western state, discovers life in Washington as a newly appointed U.S. senator, faced with a disappointing surprise.

    Jimmy Stewart stars as the local thug chosen to replace a deceased outgoing U.S. senator by agents who believe they can manipulate him and control his good-natured tendencies.

    But Capra doesn’t make it easy for them, asking Smith to fight for the little people and the real causes. Smith also finds love along the way, of course, with a co-worker’s daughter, played by Jean Arthur.

    “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including one for best original story. Of course, he was up against two films, “Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

    “Bob Roberts” (1992)

    Tim Robbins wrote, directed and stars in this sharp satire of a documentary about the fictional U.S. Senate candidate who is part Bob Dylan, part Trump-style right-wing voice.

    Eerily similar to this year’s presidential race, Roberts is accused of hateful slurs and racial bigotry, despite even surviving an assassination attempt.

    Drawing inspiration from Rob Reiner’s groundbreaking book “This is Spinal Tap,” Robbins uses the faux documentary lens to paint a picture of what a current-day view could provide while cleverly showing what today’s politics Today can escalate with lies and bigoted fandom – some 20 years before Trump appeared on a ballot.

    “Primary Colors” (1998)

    Before it was a movie, this John Travolta vehicle directed by Mike Nichols was DC’s riddle book Published in 1996, the novel written by “Anonymous” (who later became political scribe Joe Klein) sparked a search for the device for the author that rivaled the issue of Deep Throat sources from the 1970s.

    Eventually, Klein confessed and the cameras began rolling on the story of fictional Governor Jack Stanton (clearly modeled on Bill Clinton) and his primary run for president.

    Like the real Clinton, Travolta’s Stanton faces allegations of adultery, past legal indiscretions and a diet of junk food. But the film version puts him in an even worse situation when it is discovered that he had an affair with an underage babysitter, as well as other trysts on the campaign trail.

    Nonetheless, the film offers a good insight into how political campaigns are managed and mismanaged, and how a politician’s charisma can overcome their weaknesses.

    Other stars include Emma Thompson as an obvious Hillary Clinton and Billy Bob Thornton as a “redneck” campaign boss modeled on James Carville.

    “All the King’s Men” (1949)

    Considered by many to be the quintessential film about political power and abuse, the film introduces Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), a fictional behind-the-scenes political novice in a small town. He attracts the attention of a reporter when he promises to run an honest campaign for local county office.

    Ultimately, Stark, clearly modeled after corrupt Louisiana legend Huey Long, runs for governor and wins when he speaks out against the status quo. But along the way, he discovers dirty tricks and an appetite for using his power to punish others.

    Based on the popular Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Robert Penn Warren, the film follows a careful catalog of Stark’s abuses and their impact, in a way that films had not done at the time .

    Nominated for seven Academy Awards, “The King’s Men” won three, including best picture and best actor for Crawford.

    “Meet John Doe” (1941)

    Five years before giving us George Bailey and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Capra created Long John Willoughby, aka John Doe, in this mix of current events and political abuse.

    Willoughby, played by Gary Cooper, is a down-on-his-luck former baseball player who is tricked into faking his identity as “John Doe”, a suicidal and disgruntled citizen who writes a letter to a local newspaper threatening to blow up. the city hall building to protest corruption and abuse of power.

    But it’s all a fraud concocted by columnist Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck), who wrote an article about the fake letter in a desperate attempt to keep her job.

    When the paper’s editors discover the fraud, they choose not to fire Mitchell but to give him a raise – and to find a “John Doe” to play the role and help call attention to the paper’s struggling circulation.

    Enter Willoughby, who is joining the effort that is growing into a movement and sparking John Doe clubs across the country aimed at connecting well-meaning neighbors who want to do good.

    Eventually, however, the newspaper’s owner (Edward Arnold) sees an opportunity to forge his own political voice and appeals to the clubs to find a new political party that will support him.

    Winner of the Academy Award for Best Story, “Meet John Doe” was also honored by the AFI as one of the 100 best films of the 20th century.

    “The Candidate” (1972)

    Although more than 50 years old, this frank and intelligent look at an unknown U.S. Senate candidate’s drive to unseat a popular incumbent president stands the test of time brilliantly.

    Robert Redford, who plays Democrat Bill McKay, presents a smart, liberal challenger who wants to focus on the issues but is distracted by his rival’s negative ads and by his campaign manager (Peter Boyle), who gives him a crash course campaign manipulation.

    Cameos from George McGovern, Hubert Humphrey, who reportedly hated the film’s message, and numerous California elected officials add to the film’s authenticity, as well as documentary-style filming.

    The final scene, where a surprised McKay wins, includes one of Hollywood’s most memorable lines: the senator-elect asks, “What do we do now?” »

    Although Redford had no writing or producing credits, he was heavily involved in both and began to have a long history of influence in political and government surveillance films, including “All Men of the President”, “The Way We Were” and “Three Days of”. the Condor.”

    “The Competitor” (2009)

    Joan Allen turns the typical movie politician on its head as fictional Senator Laine Hanson, a smart, tough woman who met her husband through an affair, switched political parties, and is an unapologetic atheist.

    She finds new fame when President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) recruits her to replace his recently deceased vice president. The nomination would make her the first female vice president in history, a move that Evans says will be her “swan song.”

    When his Republican rivals take action, things get ugly with online battles and scandals reminiscent of Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton.

    Eventually, they uncover a long-standing rumor that Hanson was the center of a college fraternity orgy as a freshman. She neither admits nor denies this claim, stating that it is beneath her to answer and sexist to ask.

    “The truth is, if I were a man, no one would care how many sexual partners I’ve had,” she tells a young congressman played by Christian Slater.

    But the fight begins when Senator Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman) wages the conformity war with insinuations, threats and harsh attacks.

    In the end we discover the truth which, as usual, lies somewhere in the middle. But we also see Bridges portray what might be the best movie president of all time, with a mix of political machinations, heart and a sense of history that few on-screen leaders have and which the most real presidents.

    Pabio
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