Seen: August 13,th, 2007
Format: DVD
Rating: 4
When this came out in theaters, it left quickly and I was a bit surprised. It looked interesting and topical and I figured it must have a serious problem if it did wasn't around long. I figured that it was worth a look.
It was.
First off, this is a political film, and I try to keep my personal politics out fo these reviews. That said, you're going to react to this film, as least to some degree, based on your personal politics.
This film was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. I found it intriguing that someone would actually run for President basing their campaign on change. And by this I mean change in the system, not a change of party or policy.
This attitude is refreshing, if perhpas a bit naive. Some may consider it tilting at windmills, but it's one of those things that many of us wish that we could do ourselves. There's an appeal to putting a comic in the Whitehouse. To be succesful, a comic needs to pay attention, to understand what's going on around him. They're probaby someone who gets us, someone who understands where we're coming from. Even if we don't entirely agree with them, at least we know they're paying attention.
This is how it starts out, and it's gogin along swimmingly. Things are a bit sketchy in spots, but we're patient and waiting for the payoff. How will things change, what can be the result of this experiment.
Then the rug comes out.
Basically the film chickens out. Instead of dealing with the hard issues of how this change might actually be brought about, the film pulls a bait and switch and turns into a conspiracy movie. It does try to offer a explanation.
The Jester, it's said, is responsibly for telling the truth, for making fun of the powers, exposing them to both themselves and the world. But The Jester's power lies in the fact that he's allowed to say anything without reprisal. He is also free from responsibility, he make no decisions, so can't be held accountable to anything. I studied Shakespeare, I get it. I'll even say that it makes a ton of sense.
But it's still a cop out as far as this film is concerned. Instead of taking a stand and potentially alienating part of its audience, it soft shoes off to the side and back into the wings, content to just raise questions without attempting to answer them.
This is a real shame. There's great writing and acting here. There's good dialogue and situations. There's smart people saying and doing smart things. They've got things all wound up to make a statement, and then we get a beautiful smarmy ending.
What a waste.
The Good: Premise
The Bad: Bait and Switch
The Ugly: Let's not talk about Politics
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