not hugely entertaining but with it being very intelligent it holds your interest right up until the end credits. chris cooper was brilliant as the candidate for senator. kinda reminds you of george bush when you see him speaking in public. must've modelled himself on the very man. there's some very individual characters such as daryl hannahs maddy pilager, sister of coopers character who is really a bit mad and dangerous with her bow and arrow. i think alot of people simply didn't get this or didn't want to get it due to it's runtime and pace put together. i'd say watch this when you've got some time on your hands. it needs your full attention to be appreciated
Part political satire, part thriller. The satire part works, but with about half an hour left the tone seems to change and the result is a little less satisfying. Still the ensemble does good work and it's hard to dislike a Sayles film. Worth a look.
This film focuses less on the political scandal and more on the investigator trying to solve the scandal, which is misleading in terms of marketing for the film because the investigator isn't even on the poster. There was something awkward about the editing and the guy who plays the investigator as an actor, for some reason, he just wasn't very convincing. I'm not sure that the film really made a concrete point. And I found my thoughts wandering away from the film a lot.
I liked this for 2 reasons: 1 - It has a great cast, Danny Huston is one of the most underappreciated actors out there, cooper is always great, and dreyfuss is great in his best role in years. 2 - I love political drama/comedies. This one is more of a drama, but it is serious in the right way - it's complicated and it doesn't focus on republican/democrat, but rather on campaign backers regardless of party, which is something that voters need to pay attention to.
Now, I'm sure I would probably give this film a higher rating if I had been more able to pay attention to it (too many interruptions) but from what I did see it had a few flaws. For one, there were waaay too many characters; it kind of watered it down, and made it jump a bit too much and not really focus on any one point for more than a moment. The political satire was pretty good, but it was a bit dry and not particularly funny, especially when it lasted about 45 minutes longer than it needed to. If they would have worked on those points it would have been a lot better, but it just seemed too busy. But other than that it was fairly decent, although I would personally never want to watch it again, lol.
This comedic political satire had the potential to work but unfortunately it ends up being a flat, unfunny, overlong and a boring mess. The cast try their best but they can't save this film from being terrible.
When watching this film and you see the great Chris Cooper playing a dim-witted politician, you won't be able to help relating it to real life. But this movie goes beyond satirising our incompetent President, it goes beyond just dark humor...it's making a social statement on different levels. The environmental issue is brought up; as well as ethics and corrupt campaign processes, feelings toward undocumented individuals as well as family dysfuntion issues. The great ensemble cast helps bring many different opinions into perspective through different characters who go through different things and are all at different stages of their respective emotional and spiritual breakdowns. At first view, the movie might seem pointless and contrived, but give it a second chance or at least let it sink in for a day or two before you decide that it sucked for you! Daryl Hannah delivers a very understated, yet very fuc&ed-up performance! That's a good thing for her!
The satire is a lot more genial than I was expecting and the film never really goes anywhere particularly interesting, but nevertheless it's hard to find many real faults with it.
MCT:June 15, 2008
MCT:July 31, 2007
MCT:October 19, 2006
MCT:September 22, 2006
MCT:June 10, 2006
