REEL POLITICS
We turn lens on top movies about government
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
Starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury: Chilling in the shadow of the McCarthy witch hunt (Richard Condon’s novel dates from 1959), this thriller about a U.S. soldier the Communists brainwash to become a political assassin seems relevant again in the age of a Donald Trump presidency. Remade in 2004 with Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber.
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976)
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert
Redford: Remember when real news was real news? This riveting dramatization of two reporters’ takedown of U.S. president Richard Nixon via the Watergate scandal holds up today for its human drama, not so much from the technical side of things (what’s a typewriter?). Hoffman and Redford shine as resilient Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, respectively.
DAVE (1993)
Starring Kevin Kline, Sigourney
Weaver: Throughout the lead-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, there were gripes against both Hillary Clinton and Trump. Wouldn’t have it been nice if Everyman Dave Kovic (Kline), who wound up filling in for an ailing President Mitchell, was actually running the U.S.? And certainly the First Lady Ellen Mitchell (Weaver) wouldn’t mind. Nor, given the chaos of the current administration, would the American people.
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT (1995)
Starring Michael Douglas, Annette Bening: Romance and politics combine in this Rob Reiner film from writer Aaron Sorkin (who later created The West Wing) as the liberal stance of the president’s girlfriend comes under fire from a conservative political opponent (Richard Dreyfuss). Worth it for the ending alone, as the president (Douglas) gives an impassioned speech defending the First Amendment.
WINTER KILLS (1979) Starring Jeff Bridges, John Huston: Another thriller based
on a Richard Condon novel, mixing political intrigue with tense family dynamics. With obvious Kennedy overtones, Jeff Bridges is the younger brother of an assassinated U.S. president who sets out to uncover the secret behind his death.
ELECTION 1999
Starring Matthew Broderick,
Reese Witherspoon: When you’re a keen, competitive teenager, the race for class president often trumps all. That’s especially the case for manipulative overachiever Tracy Flick (Witherspoon), who will stop at nothing to take down her fellow campaigners — and hide the fact that she slept with a teacher — in this black comedy also starring Broderick.