The Hunting of the President (2003)

74% of critics liked it
(57 reviews)
53% of users liked it
(1,219 ratings)

From the best-selling book by journalists Gene Lyons and Joe Conason comes The Hunting of the President, a documentary by filmmakers Harry Thomason and Nickolas Perry. Going back to Bill Clinton's time as Governor of Arkansas and tracing through his impeachment while President of the United States,… More From the best-selling book by journalists Gene Lyons and Joe Conason comes The Hunting of the President, a documentary by filmmakers Harry Thomason and Nickolas Perry. Going back to Bill Clinton's time as Governor of Arkansas and tracing through his impeachment while President of the United States, the Morgan Freeman-narrated film attempts to shed light on the alleged organized campaign to topple the charismatic statesman. Along the way, Thomason and Perry attempt to explore on a more general level the effect and influence of the media and slander-machines on contemporary politics. Interviews with such contrasting figures as James Carville and Jerry Falwell are included alongside never-before-seen Clinton-era footage. The Hunting of the President premiered at a special screening during the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 29 min.
Directed By: Bill Clinton, Harry Thomason
Written By: Harry Z. Thomason, Nickolas Perry
Genres: Documentary, Special Interest

In Theaters: Jun 1, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Sep 28, 2004
Studio: Regent Releasing

Critic Reviews

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For a movie that desperately wants to be jazzy and light on its feet, it's sadly heavy-handed.
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
What comes across most strongly is how utterly trivial so much of this story now seems. Can we really have spent all that time, money and energy chewing over a land deal and worrying about a presidential dalliance?
Michael Booth, Denver Post
Marred by juvenile editing tricks and a relentless advocacy tone on behalf of Clinton, the film is like a scent of incense that takes you back in time, but leaves out meaning or context.
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic
Offers a lesson for both parties about what can happen when powerful forces unite to bring down a politician.
Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News
There's wit, revelation and mercifully, more about Whitewater than Monica Lewinsky.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
The filmmakers here don't rely on their own personal opinions and biases as much as they deal with simple facts and statistics documented in archival news footage, freely available in the public domain.
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
One doesn't have to like Bill or Hillary Clinton ... to conclude that the enemies of the president were overzealous.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
Galling to the abused outrage assimilator.
Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters
Whitewater victim Susan McDougal's interview brings into focus the movie's outrage.
Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope
A good primer for anyone not familiar with the whole complicated Whitewater investigation.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
It's presented well and doesn't feature anything like Moore's increasingly off-putting brand of sarcastic humor.
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
At times, the conspiracy theories may seem to edge into paranoia, but the more you watch, the more you come to believe all this was possible.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Grifty G

An interesting documentary about the Republican smear campaign that started before Clinton took the oath, and culminated in his impeachment (although with anything this one-sided, you have to take everything with a grain of salt). But, its somewhat ruined by constantly cutting to old… More
An interesting documentary about the Republican smear campaign that started before Clinton took the oath, and culminated in his impeachment (although with anything this one-sided, you have to take everything with a grain of salt). But, its somewhat ruined by constantly cutting to old film clips that are supposed to humorously parallel what the interviewees are saying, as if they felt their target audience couldn't sit still for a straight documentary about politics. I guess its the post-Moore style now.