Flicks About Politics I Love

I LOVE movies. Blockbuster should give me some sort of lifetime achievement award for excellence in the field of online and in store renting. This being an election year I thought it would be relevant to list my favorite movies about politics. With all due respect to All The Kings Men, The Candidate, Mr Smith Goes To Washington, The original Manchurian Candidate, and Gandhi - all which are all time great movies - here are my favorite flicks about politics in no particular order.

Being There: Rarely does a movie stay with people like this one has for me. When I was young I remember watching it with my father in when it first was released. The incredible Peter Sellers was Chauncey, a simple-minded gardener who has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chauncey is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television. After an accident with a limousine, he ends up a guest of a woman named Eve (Shirley MacLaine) and her husband Ben, who has ties to the White House.  His friendship with Ben grows and he becomes an unlikely political insider. He directly influences the President while others scramble to find out who he is, never considering that he is just a simple common man. The movie is both sad, funny and classic. A MUST SEE.

Primary Colors: In my opinion one of John Travolta’s best roles, but he is only part of the story. Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester, Maura Tierney, and many more ALL give memorable performances. Stanton rides his good old boy charm through scandals about extramarital affairs, surprise pregnancies, and an opponent who dies during the campaign, all the way to the White House in this sometimes intense, sad, and funny movie. If even one tenth of this movie is true about Bill Clinton then it is no mystery why he captivated the American public and connected so deeply with many people.

Bulworth: Far underrated in my opinion and a political movie about special interest groups that should not be missed. “Brace yourself. This politician is about to tell the truth!” was the perfect tag line for this movie where a suicidally disillusioned liberal politician puts a contract out on himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters by affecting the rhythms and speech of hip-hop music and culture. What follows is a sometimes wild trip through inner America where he actually sees the world around him for the first time. I will not give away the ending, but while some might have been upset with it, I found it the perfect ending to make the ultimate point that the movie was trying to say. You can see the trailer for the movie here.

The American President: Because of the comedy in this movie it sometimes gets overlooked on the great movies about politics lists, but not for me. Comedy-drama about a widowed US president (Michael Douglas) and a lobbyist (Annette Benning) who fall in love. Single male President dates in front of the entire world and his opponents try to use this relationship to stop his reelection bid. The movie somehow feels both serious and funny at the same time and holds up even today. One of the few good political date movies in my opinion. Great video of the famous “I am The President” speech

Dave: One of the best political comedies ever in my opinion. Kevin Kline, Charles Grodin Sigourney Weaver, Ving Rhames, and Ben Kingsley are fantastic, BUT Frank Langella steals the entire movie as the evil Bob Alexander. To avoid a potentially explosive scandal when the U.S. President goes into a coma, an affable temp agency owner (Kline as Dave) who looks exactly like the ill President is put in his place. What follows is both funny AND TIMELY, especially considering the current financial crises in the country. The scene where Grodin and Kline review “the budget” over sandwhiches one night and then the next day Kline at a publicized staff meeting cuts hundreds of millions to save a childrens program is amazing and probably 100% true. Classic quotes: Langella: “He’s not a President. He’s an ordinary person. I can kill an ordinary person. I can kill a hundred ordinary people!”

V For Vendetta: Maybe one of the hardest hitting movies about politics ever made. Violent and direct it tells the story of a shadowy freedom fighter known only as “V”. V uses terrorist tactics to fight against his totalitarian society run by a dictator named Sutler, played brilliantly by John Hurt . Upon rescuing a girl (Natalie Portman, who is also incredible in this movie) from the secret police, he teams up with her leading up to the ultimate political statement. This movie contains one of my all time favorite set of movie lines which are:

Evey: Who are you?
V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask.
Evey: Well I can see that.
V: Of course you can. I’m not questioning your powers of observation I’m merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.
Evey: Oh. Right.
V: But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace sobriquet, to suggest the character of this dramatis persona.
V:Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. [carves V into poster on wall] The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. [giggles] Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.
Evey: Are you like a crazy person?
V: I am quite sure they will say so.

Wag The Dog: Political corruption and satire at its best, this movie is VERY current with the war and media today. Super heavyweight cast with Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, William H Macy, Woody Harrelson, Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Kirsten Dunst and many more. Before upcoming elections, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to “fabricate” a war in order to cover-up a presidential sex scandal. They literally MAKE UP the war and try sell the American public and world that it is real. There is no reason that this movie could not ACTUALLY happen, especially with special effects and computers as advanced as they are today.

The Distinguished Gentleman: Pure comedy this movie lampooned the political process and mixed belly laughing comedy with a tiny bit of political satire. One of those movies that can be watched over and over it is another that does not get enough credit for being really good. Sure it is not an Academy Award winner BUT it is still a fun movie about getting elected and going to Washington DC. Eddie Murphy plays Thomas Jefferson Johnson, a scam artist who gets elected to office purely on the similarity of his name to a recently deceased Congressman. Once he gets to Washington he realizes that politics in general are one HUGE con game, something he is well trained to do. Along the way he does learn that there are noble causes and the movie tries to interject some humanity, but overall it is pure fun. Lane Smith plays Dick Dodge, the old world corrupt politician and basically steals most of the movie from the rest of the cast. Good movie.

Power:Little seen movie that I really enjoy. Big cast with Richard Gere, Gene Hackman, Kate Capshaw, and young Denzel Washington, it covers the underside of the political media and the people who mold public opinions. Pete St. John (Gere) is a successful political consultant, with a large amount of successful clients. When his long-time friend Ohio senator Sam Hastings decides to quit politics, he is hired to help with the campaign of the man destined to succeed him, an unknown businessman named Jerome Cade (J.T. Walsh). As Gere’s character learns more about why his friend Hastings quit and more about Cade things get dangerous. A strong drama.

There are many more I really like, but this is a good start for your viewing pleasure. What films about politics do you like?