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

    Harry Posted on

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    As Election Day approaches, thoughts turn to past campaigns and the movies about them.

    From the moment DW Griffith published “Birth of a Nation,” political leaders and their best and worst became fodder for the big screen.

    As a long-time movie buff, I present my top 10 political films for your review, evaluation, and perhaps opposition.

    Here they are:

    ‘Choice’ (1999)

    Yes, it’s a high school student body president election, but it takes the ego, dirty tricks, and human element that permeate any run for office and confines it to the hallowed halls of the youth academy.

    And it’s extremely funny for both teens and their parents.

    Reese Witherspoon, who would win an Oscar just six years later for her role as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line,” plays Tracy Flick. He’s the overly cheerful, driven, and smart classmate we all remember, often not fondly.

    Flick is taking no prisoners as he runs for high school office and believes he’s doing anything to win – from cupcakes with the slogan “Pick Flick” on them to posters galore and promises, promises, promises. When his teacher and election consultant Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) decides that Flick shouldn’t win by simply walking, he recruits sports hero Paul Meltzer (Chris Klein) to oppose him.

    A pitched battle ensues, offering great jokes and rare dark humor, as well as a reality check on how campaigns in high school and Washington can spiral out of control.

    ‘Dave’ (1993)

    A simple, uplifting tale straight out of Frank Capra’s playbook, Dave finds Jimmy Stewart doing his best as small-town employment agency owner Kevin Kline gets dragged into a Washington scam game.

    Somehow, he is asked to stand in for fictional President Bill Mitchell during an appearance. When Mitchell suffers a stroke, he tries to keep his corrupt chief of staff as president temporarily until he finds a way to remove Dave, the vice president is arrested, and he replaces him.

    As Dave, Kline searches for a way to counter this deception while also managing to make some positive changes for society.

    Director Ivan Reitman combines sweet and humorous moments for an underdog story that offers positive takes on what politics can really be while also correcting its downsides.

    ‘American President’ (1995)

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

    Shepard is riding a high voting wave at the inauguration, but must pass a crime bill to get over the hump.

    Annette Bening stars as Sydney Alan Wade, the political operative sent to steer her towards an environmental bill that sees no political advantage. Eventually the two find love, but the consequences are politically problematic.

    Reiner and Douglas frame the story for a classic progressive agenda that opposes guns, Central American intervention, and greenhouse gases. Still, it offers a romantic comedy view of Washington’s wars and attacks with a positive ending that can satisfy romantics and politics junkies alike.

    ‘Mr. ‘Smith Goes to Washington’ (1939)

    Before George Bailey meets Mr. Potter in Bedford Falls, Jefferson Smith, a naive ranger leader from an obscure western state, comes to life in Washington as a newly appointed U.S. senator facing a disappointing surprise.

    Jimmy Stewart plays the local hillbilly chosen to replace the deceased incumbent US senator by agents who think they can manipulate him and control his benign tendencies.

    But Capra doesn’t make it easy for Smith to have him fight for little people and real causes. Smith also finds love with a colleague’s daughter, played by Jean Arthur.

    “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” was nominated for 11 Oscars and won Best Original Story. Of course, he was facing two movies: “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

    ‘Bob Roberts’ (1992)

    Tim Robbins wrote, directed and stars in this sharply satirical documentary about a fictional US Senate candidate with a right-wing voice that’s part Bob Dylan, part Trump.

    In a chilling resemblance to this year’s presidential race, Roberts has been accused of hateful slurs and racial bigotry, and even survived an assassination attempt.

    Taking a page from Rob Reiner’s groundbreaking “This is Spinal Tap,” Robbins uses the lens of fake documents to paint a picture of what watching a news report can do while cleverly showing what today’s politics can become with lies and cult-like fandoms. 20 years before Trump appeared on the ballot.

    ‘Primary Colours’ (1998)

    Directed by Mike Nichols, this John Travolta vehicle was DC’s guessing game book before it became a movie. Published in 1996, the novel by “Anonymous” (who later turned political writer Joe Klein) sparked the search for a beltway. Author who rivaled the Deep Throat resource question of the 1970s.

    Eventually Klein confessed, and the cameras began to follow the story of fictional Governor Jack Stanton (clearly modeled on Bill Clinton) and his first presidential run.

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

    Still, the film offers a good look at how political campaigns are managed and mismanaged, and how a politician’s charisma can overcome his weaknesses.

    Other stars include Emma Thompson as Hillary Clinton and Billy Bob Thornton as her James Carville-inspired “redneck” campaign chief.

    ‘All the King’s Men’ (1949)

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

    Eventually, Stark, clearly based on the corrupt Louisiana legend Huey Long, runs for governor and wins when he speaks out against the status quo. But along the way he picks up dirty tricks and an appetite for using his power to punish others.

    Adapted from Robert Penn Warren’s popular Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the film carefully traces Stark’s exploits and the impact he had in a way that films at the time did not.

    Nominated for seven Oscars, “All the King’s Men” won three awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crawford.

    ‘Meet John Doe’ (1941)

    Five years before Capra gave us George Bailey and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” he created Long John Willoughby, a.k.a. John Doe, in this mix of news and political abuse.

    Played by Gary Cooper, Willoughby is a down-on-his-luck former baseball player who is talked into impersonating “John Doe,” a suicidal and disgruntled citizen who writes a letter to the local newspaper threatening to jump. City Hall to protest corruption and abuse of power.

    But this is all a fraud made up by newspaper columnist Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck), who writes a column about the fake letter in a desperate attempt to keep her job.

    When the paper’s editors learn of the fraud, they choose not to fire Mitchell but to give him a raise, finding a “John Doe” to fill the role and help draw attention to the paper’s struggling circulation.

    Enter Willoughby, who supported the effort that became a movement and sparked John Doe clubs across the country aimed at connecting well-intentioned neighbors looking to do good.

    Eventually, however, the owner of the newspaper (Edward Arnold) sees the opportunity to establish his own political voice and mobilizes the clubs for a new political party to support him.

    Winning the Oscar for Best Story, “Meet John Doe” was also listed among the 100 best films of the 20th century by AFI.

    ‘The Candidate’ (1972)

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

    Robert Redford, playing Democrat Bill McKay, serves as a smart, liberal opponent who wants to focus on the issues but is sidetracked by his opponent’s negative ads and his campaign manager (Peter Boyle), who gives him a crash course in campaign manipulation.

    Cameos by George McGovern, Hubert Humphrey, who reportedly hated the film’s message, and a group of elected officials from California add to the film’s authenticity, along with documentary-style shooting.

    The final scene, in which a stunned McKay wins, features one of Hollywood’s most memorable lines as the senator-elect asks the question: “What do we do now?”

    While Redford does not have a writing or producing career, he has been heavily involved in both and has a long history of influence on political and government watchdog films, including “All the President’s Men,” “The Way We Were” and “Three Days of” happened. Condor.”

    ‘The Contestant’ (2009)

    Joan Allen subverts the typical movie politician as fictional senator Laine Hanson, a smart, tough woman who met her husband through an affair, switched political parties, and became an unashamed atheist.

    He finds new fame when President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) chooses him to replace the recently deceased vice president. This appointment will make her the first female Vice President ever, and Evans revealed that the move will be her “swan song”.

    When his GOP rivals make their move, things get ugly, with online battles and scandals reminiscent of Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton.

    They eventually find a long-standing rumor that Hanson was the center of the college fraternity party as a freshman. He neither accepts nor denies the allegation; He states that it is not appropriate for him to answer and that it is sexist to ask.

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

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

    In the end, we find the truth, which, as always, is somewhere in the middle. But we also see Bridges portraying a man who might be the best movie president ever, with a mix of political intrigue, heart, and an understanding of history that few on-screen leaders have but most real presidents lack.

    Harry
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