Customer Reviews

Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw this film in a St. Louis theater during Jeff Smith's second political campaign.
It's a straight forward budget documentary. It did a good job of addressing some
of the issues surrounding successful and unsuccessful campaigns, from family
support to name recognition to party political allegiances. During the film I felt I
had met an idealistic candidate depending a little too heavily on other young people
to get elected, yet in the end admired his positivity, practicality, and persistence. Jeff
Smith appears to be committed to being a positive change agent for all people,
and I look forward to watching his career from afar. I think all politicians should have an
opportunity to have their political start filmed! I found the film enjoyable and entertaining
and anyone interested in the political process should enjoy it as well.

I was expecting a great documentary. So, my expectations could have been too high for this movie to meet. But anyway, I would say this is a good movie because it illustrates the manner in which politics is insulated from outside ideas. The simple fact is that few can introduce an innovation into the system because it has become too institutionalized. This movie does that well. The only problem would lie in the poor editing.

The documentary itself is almost unimpeachable for its portrayal of a modern David and Goliath political war. Mr. Jeff Smith romantically fights against a member of the political aristocracy with a totally grass-roots movement which automatically inspires sympathy. Througout the movie, I found myself hoping he would win even though I don't agree with his political views.

However, my post-viewing research reveals that Jeff Smith is a convicted felon who broke campaigning laws and made false statements to the FBI. This dealt a major blow to my view of the documentary's credibility.

In short, it was well-made, but Jeff Smith no longer inspires sympathy or admiration in me.

"Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?" tells the story of one Jeff Smith, who decides to launch a seemingly quixotic campaign to replace Richard Gephardt in the US House of Representatives. The title of the documentary is a riff on the 1939 Jimmy Stewart film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," which was about the disillusionment of a good heart. "Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?" has its moments of disillusionment as the utterly inexperienced organizers of Jeff Smith's campaign start to come up against the realities of modern politics -- the endless need to hustle for money, the effects of big political poobahs on the chances of neophytes, the need for endorsements, the mudslinging and lying of many campaigns. But the film works in a positive way for several reasons. First of all, it picks the story up from the very, very start (although there is the impression here or there that necessary scenes were recreated later). Secondly, the hero of the story, Jeff Smith, is a wildly attractive character -- sort of goofy and geeky, but a big star in the world of racial relations in Missouri, a schoolteacher of the type of Mr. Bergstrom in "Lisa's Substitute" in The Simpsons (sorry if that's an inadequate cultural reference -- I mean the kind of teacher you remember all your life). Third, anyone who has ever worked on a political campaign will recognize the atmosphere -- lots of volunteers working ridiculous hours and investing so very, very, very much hope in "their guy." I will say that the suspense of the final push toward the election is kept up right to the very end, and I won't spoil by saying how it all comes out (of course, anyone with Google can find out anyway). But I will say that this is a beautifully done political documentary with a very important point to make about how America does politics these days.