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The American President
I can't believe I just watched this movie. It must've been Annette Benning that kept me watching, because it certainly wasn't Michael Douglas. Way back in the early 1990s — the summer of "Shining Through" and "Basic Instinct," I think — I got fed up with Michael Douglas because he always plays the same character and it's generally a character I don't like. But maybe it wasn't Benning. Maybe it was Aaron Sorkin's writing. He can be trite and cloyingly romantic, but he's certainly hit on a winning formula with the idea of a U.S. President who learns that the way to be President is to stand up for what he really believes and to fight the fights that need to be fought, rather than only the fights he can win. People eat that up. You'd think a real life candidate would get the hint.
Watching this movie, as well as old "West Wing" reruns (for which Sorkin is also responsible) makes me wish people in the first few months of 2004 would have confused the fantasy world of movies and television with the reality of a real presidential campaign just a little more. Maybe then we'd have a real candidate to vote for instead of Kerry. Maybe then people wouldn't have been so afraid to vote for someone who stood up for what he believed in. I submit that Howard Dean was a candidate that would fight the fights that needed to be fought, but I'm afraid Kerry's only going to fight the fights he thinks he can win. I still hope I'm wrong about Kerry, but if I'm not, there's still going to be a huge market for Sorkin's fantasy presidents.
Posted June 29, 2004 09:42 PM | ai movies
Don't forget about Dave, the Kevin Kline vehicle that predated The American President by a couple of years. Even more improbable, bordering on the impossible, but just as cloying. The only fictional presidential picture on the horizon is an updated remake of The Manchurian Candidate with Denzel Washington.
Posted by: Steve at June 29, 2004 10:11 PM
I think maybe one of the reasons my love of Sorkinesque idealism doesn't translate into the real world finds itself in the fact that the clear line between fiction and reality screams. Even in the forth season election cycle, Sorkin's rival presidential candidates kept the fight clean - something that would never happen in the real world.
Posted by: kmsqrd at June 29, 2004 10:25 PM
American President is a cute movie. It's like my mom's favorite. It's romantic, and we know full well that the White House never is.
Posted by: monica at June 30, 2004 06:53 AM
Aww, I liked The American President too. Kinda sappy, but very cute.
Posted by: DG at June 30, 2004 10:52 AM
I totally agree about Howard Dean. I'm disappointed that reality won out again. And all I got was a bunch of lousy campaign buttons that say "(insert group name here) for Dean."
Posted by: Mrs. Robinson at June 30, 2004 12:22 PM
Yeah, I hate to admit it. But I'm a total West Wing junkie. I was trying to wean myself off of Law & Order, which is kinda like crack for me, when I happened across one of the ba-jillion airings of WW that Bravo does during the course of a day. Thinking of Martin Sheen as President eased the pain that comes from a Jerry Orbach jones.
I shall hang my head in shame...
Posted by: Famous P. at June 30, 2004 09:57 PM
yeah, man. that marathon of west wing on memorial day was great.
my roommate was talking about us going down to basic cable, and i approved, except then i realized that i wouldn't be able to see L&O at any hour on TNT anymore. god bless TNT.
Posted by: monica at July 1, 2004 07:02 AM
yeah, man. that marathon of west wing on memorial day was great.
my roommate was talking about us going down to basic cable, and i approved, except then i realized that i wouldn't be able to see L&O at any hour on TNT anymore. god bless TNT.
Posted by: monica at July 1, 2004 07:03 AM
TWW post-Sorkin is a little hit-or-miss, I've found. (Not that all of Sorkin's episodes were hits--witness "Isaac and Ishmael.") I'm not as much of a junkie as I used to be.
Posted by: raquel at July 1, 2004 09:46 AM
