Kissing Babies: Hollywood's Best Political Movies
Aug 21 '01
The Bottom Line The greatest political movies of all time. Period. That's just my opinion, though, judge for yourself.
Moviegoers swarm to films about political threats, political happenings, and just plain political plots. Why? Perhaps it's because many of these sorts of things can or have happened before. Perhaps people wonder what goes on behind closed doors in Washington and around the world. I know that I do and often wonder how accurate Hollywood's portrayals of corruption really are. Nonetheless, I am extremely intrigued with politics and many of the scams and scandals the government pulls or politicians pull, and furthermore, I'm always in the mood to hear about some virtuous political rebel who had the guts to stand up for what he believed. Following this is a list of my favorite political movies, be they of scandal or virtue.
In no particular order:
Gandhi
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Martin Sheen, Ian Bannen
Make no mistake, Gandhi is a marathon film that if not watched completely will lose much of its luster. The film won Best Picture and Kingsley, I believe received an Oscar for his portrayal of the Indian lawyer turned non-violent protestor. Kingsley is absolutely flawless as Mahatma Gandhi (and a terrific makeup job makes him look identical). He has captured the benevolence of the man in 3 hours of film so that every time I see Kingsley, I always remember him as Gandhi. Inherently, I use Gandhi as my standard of judging Kingsley's other performances. Beautiful direction make this epic pleasing to watch in terms of visuals, although a downside to the film is that 3 hours of little or no action gets a bit tedious at times. But the film is worth seeing regardless of a few dry spells. Sheen plays his part well as the reporter who chronicles Gandhi's progress through non-violence in a valiant effort to bring people together and resist the seemingly tyrannical rule of the British Empire. It's hard to believe that this happened in the 20th century. It rather seems like a Middle Age conflict set in later times. Overall, a stunning film worthy of all its praise. I don't think Kingsley has matched this film yet (I haven't seen Sexy Beast yet.)
JFK
Starring: Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Wayne Knight, John Candy, Jack Lemmon, Ed Asner, Walter Mattheau, Vincent D'Onofrio, Donald Sutherland, Jim Garrison
Dir. Oliver Stone
I believe that I've reviewed this once before, but I'll do it again anyway since it's such a fantastic achievement. But first, let me make one and only one thing very clear: I HATE KEVIN COSTNER. I hated Dances With Wolves, I hated his acting in Field of Dreams although it was decent, the half of Waterworld I saw before I turned it off was pathetic. Overall, Costner has done two movies in which he acted well, The Untouchables and this one. Portraying Jim Garrison in a fight to uncover the vastly complicated and frightening conspiracy that ended John F. Kennedy's presidency and life. Although this conspiracy theory is in part Stone's own theory, I wouldn't be surprised if the underground collaboration was as deep as the movie took it. Pesci I have to say was fantastic as the sleazeball involved in underground Cuban operations and a homosexual business man from New Orleans (Jones). But I have to give it to Sutherland for delivering in the very best scene of a movie comprised of nothing but best scenes. His story of Black Ops and his activities had me glued to the television as he unraveled his story. I think part of what made this film so groundbreaking was the sea of cameo appearances listed above. In order to create a mysterious and chilling atmosphere, every minor character had to have a tremendous and palpable persona that made it seem like everyone new something that they shouldn't. Notable cameo performances include: Lemmon, Jones, Mattheau, Candy, and Oldman. Look for the real Jim Garrison as Justice Earl Warren. One of my favorite movies ever. (That's the other list it's on, my top ten films of all time list.)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Starring: James Stewart, Jean Arthur
Back in the 30s and 40s, Jimmy Stewart captured the hearts of Americans as a movie star and as a soldier. And I have to say, when I saw this movie, I realized why he was so popular. Mr. Smith . . . is the story of an extremely non-political what-would-be-equivalent-today-as-a-Boy-Scout-leader being eleced to the United States Senate and discovering the harsh corruption of Washington yet never losing faith in his country. With the help of a seemingly friendly veteran politician, Smith begins to propose that legislation be passed to make an area in Illinois a national park. However, the Illinois governor, who is essentially a puppet for a wealthy business man, has different plans for the land and sets out to slander Mr. Smith by saying that the fledgling Senator owned the land already and was presenting the bill simply as a profit scheme. Besides a semi-sappy romance between Smith and his secretary, the movie is tremendous, capturing patriotism and corruption in one fell swoop. I'm glad my friend suggested this movie, I'm looking forward to seeing a few more Stewart movies. By the way, the filibuster scene is one of the greatest scenes ever. It ranks up there with Sutherland's Black Ops scene mentioned before.
Primary Colors
Starring: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thorton
The first time I saw Primary Colors, I wasn't very impressed, but upon a second viewing I grew to love this movie. The story of a young reporter(?) taken under a prominent politicians wing and maken part of his campaign team. It's basically a coming of age tale in a way, where a somewhat naive man realizes what really goes on during the race for the big time, the Presidential Election. Travolta does a commendable job in what struck me as an undoubtable Bill Clinton caricature. Bates is a riot as the lesbian loyal who still believes in virtue as a political necessity, while Thompson sports an American accent as the wife of Travolta struggling to come to grips with his infidelity and meanwhile trying to lose herself in the campaign excitement. Thorton is probably my favorite character though, the blunt political genius who signs on to help his old friend. Strong performances fuel this movie to the heights that it achieves, not to mention a very well-done script. If you're into politics you have to see this movie, I know it sounds like a sales pitch, but I'm being completely frank. You'll love it.
Wag the Dog
Starring: Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Denis Leary, Anne Heche, Willie Nelson, Kirsten Dunst, Craig T. Nelson, Woody Harrelson
I could not stop laughing at this movie, it's just a great political film using comedy as an unforgettable medium. The President needs a distraction from his questionable activities that will boost his approval ratings, so he calls on crackshot aide De Niro. De Niro decides that he should create a war (in Afghanistan I think) and in turn calls on legendary movie producer Hoffman. Together with the help of each man's respective aides, namely Heche, Leary, and Nelson, the group creates one of the largest scandals in political history. Hoffman is hysterical, he's neurotic, flamboyent, and has a great deal of fun with the part. Never a dry scene when he's in it. Leary is hilarious as well, always collaborating with Hoffman as to which twist they should add to their "movie" next, a girl holding a cat and crying in the midst of shelling, a returned soldier who turns out to be a psychotic prisoner, every element they add becomes more outrageous, yet the public eats it up. De Niro I will admit was not in top form, but fills the role adequately. Everyone is overshadowed by Hoffman, though. Boasting one of the funniest and sharpest scripts in a long while Wag the Dog is a fresh digression away from bathroom humor and sex jokes that saturates American films these days, and it achieves a level of hilarity that leaves those other comedies in the dust. I really think most people should like this one.
I'll continue as usual with honorable mentions, etc. One note on these, some of these flicks aren't primarily political movies and that's why those ones did not make the top five.
Honorable Mentions
The American President **** - Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Michael J. Fox, Martin Sheen, Richard Dreyfeuss
The Devil's Own **** - Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, James Earl Jones
The Hunt for Red October ***** - Alec Baldwin, Sean Connery, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, Sam Niell, Tim Curry
dir. Michael McTiernan
Based on The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
In the Line of Fire ***** - Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo
A Man for All Seasons ***** - Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Orson Welles
Michael Collins **** - Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Julia Roberts, Alan Rickman, Stephen Rea, Ian Hart
dir. Niel Jordan
Citizen Kane **** - Orson Welles
dir. Orson Welles
Nixon **** - Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, James Woods, David Hyde Pierce, J.T. Walsh, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris
dir. Oliver Stone
Patriot Games **** - Harrison Ford, Sean Bean, James Earl Jones
Quiz Show **** - John Turturro, Ralph Fiennes, David Paymer, Paul Scofield, Mira Sorvino, Martin Scorcese
dir. Robert Redford
Red Corner **** - Richard Gere, Bai Ling
Shcindler's List ***** - Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
dir. Steven Spielberg
Traffic ***** - Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle, Dennis Quaid, Luis Guzman, Jacob Vargas, James Brolin, Albert Finney, Salma Hayek
dir. Steven Soderbergh
Decent Political Flicks
Enemy of the State *** - Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Seth Green, Jason Lee
Executive Decision *** - Kurt Russell, Oliver Platt, Steven Seagal
The Jackal *** - Richard Gere, Bruce Willis, Sidney Poitier, Diane Venora
The Manchurian Candidate *** - Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh
My Fellow Americans *** - Jack Lemmon, James Garner, Dan Akroyd
Three Kings *** - Mark Wahlberg, George Clooney, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze
dir. David O. Russell
Poor Movies
Air Force One ** - Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close
Macbeth * - Ian McKellan, Judi Dench
Murder at 1600 * - Wesley Snipes, Alan Alda, Dennis Miller
The Patriot ** - Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Jason Isaacs
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Member: Jason Gantenberg
Location: IL
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 12 members
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