| RATING: | 60% |
| FORMAT: | DVD |
To conflate naiveté with honesty is stupid since the naïve are not in a good position to know he truth - and no matter how honest a man is, if he does not know the truth his honesty is going to be severely limited in its scope and application.
In a culture rigidly-segregated by race, this paean to United States democracy is as sick-making as it is self-servingly naïve. The bizarre ahistorical references to Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson - both White supremacists - make you wonder just how stupid and/or brainwashed Hollywood thinks its audience really is. That a film so abjectly aimed at White audiences - while schizophrenically excluding Black - can be so moving is a tribute to the storytelling abilities of Frank Capra and the acting abilities of his stars: Jean ARTHUR and James STEWART.
The would-be exposé of political cynicism cannot really find its way between its Manichean vision of supreme idealism and profound Machiavellianism. The realism card is never played and we are left to choose between two polar and equally-idiotic opposites. This movie is not so much about corruption as it is about political inertia. The anger at the political shenanigans revealed is real and natural, but this movie fails to even suggest the value of democracy nor to offer any alternatives that could have created the necessary dramatic conflict: Democracy is simply taken to be a Whites-only given. There is also no talk of the fact that we get the politicians we deserve, so long as we vote for the usual ragtag of opportunists, liars and the delusional.
That democracy is prone to corruption because it is based upon popularity (ie, quantity not quality) is never mentioned - especially given that quality and quantity are so often opposites in political reality. Where it scores is in revealing the lengths to which those lacking moral integrity will go to get their own way. The David and Goliath on-screen stuff is fun, but fails to get to grips with any real political or ethical issues.
The political machinations, pork-belly politics and self-aggrandizement are well detailed by a skilled cast of featured players - both of politicians and journalists. However, it is the politics of the film, itself, that really stinks. Although this film attacks entrenched political elites, such elites would be perfectly happy with it because it offers no real threat to them.
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