Rating: 
Summary: The Candidate
Review: Robert Redford, in one of his unjustly overlooked films from 1972, stars as a lawyer and the son of the former governor of the state of California in an election year where the senatorial incumbent has no competition. Peter Boyle convinces Redford to run, fully expecting and anticipating to lose, therefore being able to run on a platform of pure integrity to show how out of touch the current senator has become. But suddenly the public realizes that some fresh, younger blood with an idealistic eye might be what they truly want rather than another in a long succession of terms by the same old huckster. Melvyn Douglas also stars as Redford's father. Even though this film is almost 30 years old, the Oscar-winning screenplay by Jeremy Larner shows just how timeless the same old issues the candidate has to decide where he stands upon (abortion, the environment, health care) actually are. The script really is eye-opening, because it underlines very well the point that even if, say, Jesus Christ were to run for office today, what He would say is not as important as how and when He'd say it. Directed by Michael Ritchie (Smile, The Bad News Bears, Semi-Tough), one of the few American directors who has been able to successfully show the black humor of the strange, fetid underbelly of competition in this society. Blink and you'll miss Natalie Wood at a fund-raiser. Completely climatized to the Seventies, she looks like Donovan's aide-de-camp.
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing if flawed
Review: The late Michael Ritchie was a criminally underrated director and 1972's The Candidate remains probably his best known film. Designed to serve as a primer for liberal political candidates, The Candidate tells the story of Bill McKay (Robert Redford), a young activist lawyer who is recruited by a slightly sleazy campaign manager (Peter Boyle) to run for the U.S. Senate against a conservative Republican incumbent (Don Porter, better known as Gidget's Dad). After overcoming his initial hesitations, McKay becomes a committed candidate and finds himself losing his identity in the process. Written by a former speechwriter for Eugene McCarthy, the film serves as a strongly realistic look at the state of modern political campaigning and, in typical '70s manner, is surprisingly downbeat. Redford gives one of his better performances, actually allowing himself to portray a character that some viewers may be surprised to discover they have ambigous feelings towards. His performance in this film (and other films from this period) stands in sharp contrast to the golden boys he's been concentrating on for the last few decades. Amongst the supporting cast, strong turns are given by Boyle and Melvyn Douglas as Redford's father -- a former Governor. Don Porter, on the other hand, is a tad obvious as the Republican Senator. While its reasonable to assume that Porter's buffoon is the way Hollywood liberals like Ritchie and Redford realistically view conservative Republicans, it hard to take such an obvious clown seriously as an opponent and, unfortunately, this detracts from the overall effectiveness of the film. Ritchie later said he regretted not exploring more of McKay's family life and, with the exception of the scenes between McKay and his father, the film does, at times, come across as a bit cold and unemotional. McKay's wife is barely a presence in the film and one never really knows how she feels about his campaign. Still, its a frequently funny, always fascinating, realistic look at how we elect our government and, in many ways, it was a prophetic film. 1974 would see a huge slew of liberals in the Bill McKay model elected to the U.S. Senate and the character of McKay was supposedly modeled on two of the more succesful California Democrats of the '70s -- Sen. John Tunney and Gov. Jerry Brown. After watching this film, one can't help but wonder what lay ahead for McKay -- as he himself asked, "What now?" Would he be able to survive the sudden drastic turn in the nation's political sentiments just eight years later or would he find himself swept away like Tunney and Brown?
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing if flawed
Review: The late Michael Ritchie was a criminally underrated director and 1972's The Candidate remains probably his best known film. Designed to serve as a primer for liberal political candidates, The Candidate tells the story of Bill McKay (Robert Redford), a young activist lawyer who is recruited by a slightly sleazy campaign manager (Peter Boyle) to run for the U.S. Senate against a conservative Republican incumbent (Don Porter, better known as Gidget's Dad). After overcoming his initial hesitations, McKay becomes a committed candidate and finds himself losing his identity in the process. Written by a former speechwriter for Eugene McCarthy, the film serves as a strongly realistic look at the state of modern political campaigning and, in typical '70s manner, is surprisingly downbeat. Redford gives one of his better performances, actually allowing himself to portray a character that some viewers may be surprised to discover they have ambigous feelings towards. His performance in this film (and other films from this period) stands in sharp contrast to the golden boys he's been concentrating on for the last few decades. Amongst the supporting cast, strong turns are given by Boyle and Melvyn Douglas as Redford's father -- a former Governor. Don Porter, on the other hand, is a tad obvious as the Republican Senator. While its reasonable to assume that Porter's buffoon is the way Hollywood liberals like Ritchie and Redford realistically view conservative Republicans, it hard to take such an obvious clown seriously as an opponent and, unfortunately, this detracts from the overall effectiveness of the film. Ritchie later said he regretted not exploring more of McKay's family life and, with the exception of the scenes between McKay and his father, the film does, at times, come across as a bit cold and unemotional. McKay's wife is barely a presence in the film and one never really knows how she feels about his campaign. Still, its a frequently funny, always fascinating, realistic look at how we elect our government and, in many ways, it was a prophetic film. 1974 would see a huge slew of liberals in the Bill McKay model elected to the U.S. Senate and the character of McKay was supposedly modeled on two of the more succesful California Democrats of the '70s -- Sen. John Tunney and Gov. Jerry Brown. After watching this film, one can't help but wonder what lay ahead for McKay -- as he himself asked, "What now?" Would he be able to survive the sudden drastic turn in the nation's political sentiments just eight years later or would he find himself swept away like Tunney and Brown?
Rating: 
Summary: Grade A all-American cheese
Review: This has got to be one of the funniest movies of all time. The movie itself has a serious tone, but it lends itself to so many jokes. Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans, this one for the collection!
Rating:
Summary: First-rate
Review: This is a good documentary-style movie on how power corrupts (even before the power is actually grasped). It shows politicians for the ego-ridden snake-oil salesmen they are. And I'm quite disappointed that, after making this film, Robert Redford stumped for politicians! He was sleeping with the enemy! But he's one of the smarter stars, and knows smart scripts when he sees them, and movies like this are sorely lacking into today's movie theaters.
Rating:
Summary: A Realistic Movie!
Review: This was a very good film. Robert Redford plays a young man attempting to get elected to the U.S. Senate. In this movie Redford is the son of a former political figure. He makes the decision to seek election to the U.S. Senate against a well entrenched incumbent. This movie shows the role that media handlers and campaign managers as a whole play in the election process.His many travels around the state of California seeking election are interesting as well. The movie, made in 1972 taps into some of the political rhetoric that was going on at the time.This is a must see film. Redford does a good job. Buy it, You will not be dissapointed.
|
