Ragged roadshow remake
Our critic reviews Campaign 2008
By Andy Klein
Normally I consider it unethical to review a work I haven’t seen all of, but The Presidential Election 55 is one of those cases where a sea of TV ads and public chatter has already given away more plot points than any single narrative could accommodate. Besides, as the 55th entry in the seemingly never-ending franchise – beat that, James Bond! – the whole thing has long since become formulaic. Co-produced (as always) by mega-player G.O.P. (Grand Ol’ Productions), the less successful Democratic Party, and their longtime joint holding company the United States Government, TPE55 (as the trades call it) is, like the last two installments, an unsatisfying fiction.
Much like the Pirates of the Caribbean series, each TPE entry is longer than its already overlong predecessor. As the finale approaches, 55 feels as though it’s been going on forever. (Admittedly, it still feels shorter than POTC: At World’s End.) This is exacerbated by sloppy storytelling: Major characters from the first act are relegated to minor roles by the climax (Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney) or disappear altogether (Ron Paul, John Edwards). What starts as a war film suddenly shifts, in act three, to a soap opera built around – you won’t believe this – an economic disaster.
On the other hand, just when things are their most tedious, a new character (Sarah Palin, in her big-screen debut) arrives from the imaginary state of “Alaska” to make the last section not only more exciting, but even hilariously funny – no mean feat in a series that has rarely been heavy on the laughs.
There can be no question that this rambling, even incoherent, structure is the result of constant rewrites by innumerable hands. As is the custom, the first writers get the official credit; but dozens of teams have retooled their work. (Despite a polish from Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan’s hand can still be felt in the third act plot twist.)
The list of cooks meddling with this broth is so extensive that I’ve heard whispers of some kind of credits crisis.
It’s often said that the juiciest roles are villains. And that’s truer now than ever. No matter how much we’re clearly supposed to root for the Blue Presidential Candidate (relative newcomer Barack Obama), he’s almost a cardboard construct, a stiff goody two-shoes, a dusky Dudley Do-Right. Despite the filmmakers’ eleventh-hour attempts to give him more texture by shoehorning in references to terrorists, crazed preachers, and even socialists – so mid-last-century! – nothing comes of any of it.
His sidekick (veteran character actor Joe Biden) is a Respectable White Guy, straight from central casting, providing comic relief with his knack for letting his mouth get ahead of his brain.
But the villains, as always, are more complicated, if a tad derivative from earlier works. At first glance, the Governor from “Alaska” – How do they come up with these names? – seems like a cross between Jimmy Stewart’s plain-speaking Mr. Smith, Gary Cooper’s plain-speaking Mr. Deeds, and Dyanne Thorne’s pain-spanking Ilsa, She Wolf of the S.S. But that’s a shallow analysis: Savvier cineastes have recognized the character as a clone of Nicole Kidman’s Suzanne Stone in To Die For, Gus Van Sant’s 1995 adaptation of the Joyce Maynard novel. The writers have even left some of the details intact: Like Stone, the governor is a small town TV news personality, a ruthless climber and baldfaced liar who is willing to throw anyone under the bus, even her benefactors, in her pursuit of national attention.
And then there’s the Red Candidate (longtime second-tier leading man John McCain, in what will probably be his last major role). This tragic villain was almost surely inspired by Shelley Levene, as portrayed by Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992). Once tough and successful, he finds himself taking orders from a younger, demonstrably inept boss (George W. Bush, stepping into Kevin Spacey’s shoes), whom he hates and holds in contempt. Now old and seeing his last chance at grabbing the golden ring receding from him, he is (in his own eyes) “forced” to cross over the ethical boundaries he has always cleaved to. But he’s not forced; he makes the decision to sell his soul all on his own, and, ironically, this sacrifice ends up being pointless. He doesn’t even win.
The Presidential Election 55. Written and directed by Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and Alan Greenspan. With Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, and the electoral college. Opens Tuesday countrywide.
Published: 10/29/2008
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