Customer Reviews

By the People: The Election of Barack Obama

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let me start by saying I wasn't a die-hard Obama supporter, but a little star-struck after he got elected.

With that, this is a fascinating journey of the history in making. I was surprised there is not much pre-planned interviews. It's brilliant how the actual footage speaks for itself. About half-way in the doc, surprised Obama says to the camera "You guys are still here", that shows how this was filmed. The next sentence by Gibbs was -- "they know their movie is going to get better" -- it did get better.

Keep some tissues handy, some scenes made me cry. The 9 year boy on the phone is the most hillarious thing I have seen in a long time, and he almost slams the phone but not quite, pulls the back phone back and says "Have a good day", it is funny.

In the very beginning , Obama says "I love elections, they are so much fun". That for some reason is stuck in memory and it simply describes the whole journey in my opinion.

I can't believe his speech-writer is so young. Gibbs's son scenes are adorable too. Obama girls and the family scenes make everything look so human. Grandma's house and childhood pictures, they show his middle-class back-ground. A scene where he is sleepy,yawning, sitting on a side-walk and then on the cue runs to the stage, it's fascinating. There are so many beautiful moments like that.

There are no inside scoops/gossips/misshaps/opinions/political issues/surprises, and I think it's good thing too. No contrversy, just plain facts some day you would want to see on History channel. Even then it held my interest like a well-made thriller.

Most of us who followed Obama throughout his Presidential bid can relate to this film. It is two hours of Obama and those who believed in him and worked with him. It is a film of a dream, and and the dream of everyone looking for change. What I remember most from this documentary is the tears and the surprise that, yes, indeed, we had a historic election and the making of that dream is laid out for all to see.

The two young women, filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams, with the assistance of actor, Ed Norton have given us a film to renew our faith in change. Rice and Sams began following Obama a year before he became a presidential candidate, when he was a new senator from Illinois who had made a celebrated speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention and seemed worth looking at. And, then they got caught up in the primaries and the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. I did not learn much that was new. Nothing about Barack Obama is revealed that we did not know. It is a documentary about a man running for President. Early on we feel the idealism and energy that permeated the campaign. We are also privy to the prejudice of some of our brothers and sisters.

The campaign workers are filled with the dream of change, the speech writer John Favreau, who understood that Obama was a better writer than he was, but persevered anyway to deliver. Michelle Obama's charms are on display, and we understand how much her personality and honesty bring to the man who would be president. There is a great deal of realism here as we follow Obama from his first win in Iowa to New Hampshire where a win was almost a certainty, until it wasn't. We see the interplay between Hillary and Obama, the crowds who gathered in New Hampshire and the waiting behind the scene for the event to begin. What we don't see is the emotion of the campaign, the stories behind the story. Certainly the filmmakers had great access, but not to the inner sanctum. The mistakes and the swearing and the failures and the disappointment we are not privy too. That is a large part of what I wanted to know and it was not there. One of the most enjoyable scenes is with nine year old Lorenzo Rivera, one of the youngest phone canvassers I have seen. We can feel his palpable frustration with a voter on the phone who was confused about who Obama was and what this young man wanted. He handled it well ending the conversation with "I hope you have a wonderful day." The tears of joy from Ronnie Cho a field campaign organizer who was featured throughout the film,, as he goes to call his Mom to tell her the news: Obama has won the Presidency.

This film was more about the making of a campaign and the fact that Obama was involved gave it emotion, but again the inside the scene was missing. The guts is missing from the glory.
Obama was seen as an impossible dream, and we followed those working with and for him to the beginning of the dream as reality.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 11-05-09

Flo Prefers Sprinkles 2 Amy Rice 20x20

Watching this film one year to the day after the 2008 election, it seemed a bit soon to spend two hours revisiting a campaign that remains so fresh in the mind, but it's still a compelling document that chronicles Obama's rise from semi-obscurity on election night 2006 (when the film begins) to the moment he's officially elected President. The filmmakers were granted incredible access and capture some nice candid moments with the Obama family and the campaign staff, but as the film progresses, there's a noticeable lack of footage showing the day-to-day strategizing that would make this a truly fascinating campaign document; this is not 'The War Room'. Where the film is most effective is in showing the ground game, as staffers organize on the local and statewide level. We follow one young staffer as he bounces from Iowa to several other states, and it's his passion and emotion, culminating in a tearful call to his mother on election night, that provides much of the film's heart. Despite not digging quite as deep as I would have liked, this is a skillfully made and engaging documentary.

This documentary starts from the very beginning of Obama campaign. About 50% of the movie is focused on the primary. Shows just a fraction of the hard work that Obama campaign staffers put into the campaign. The film makers are behind the scenes throughout the campaign. Great film for Obama supporters.

This is a great documentary. Anyone interested in the campaign or President Obama should get this video. It shows the trials and tribulations of election time as well as how hard these candidates must work in order to get their message out to the public. Entertaining and inspiring...a real eye-opener!

I purchased this book as a gift. Ive been told its very good. Seller sent it promptly. I am happy with purchase.

This is an excellent film that is both entertaining and informative to watch. The filmmakers were following the campaign from its very inception. This gives the movie a depth in the portrayals of the many people involved in the campaign, as well as its supporters and (in a few scenes) competitors that is unmatched. Importantly, while the candidate is obviously at the center of the story, the film is really about all of the people around him, as well as his family, and that is its real strength. Reviewers who give the movie low marks without having seen it, and/or who give it low marks because of their political perspective on the candidate himself, miss the point of the movie altogether. We get to see the process at a very personal level, and get rare insights into the emotions of those involved. That the campaign ultimately was a success was not at all apparent when the filming began, but clearly affected the scope and tone of the film. The movie does a great job of putting together a compelling and interesting story about the personalities involved in the campaign - those behind the scenes, as it were - and it is compelling to watch.

Moved me to tears on more than one occasion. It would be great if it could be viewed again about now when people are being so impatient with all the work that is being done with the mess left to us by GW. I think we all need to be reminded to remain passionate and patient.

This dvd let you see things that happened after all of the rest of the cameras were gone. Very interesting

I loved to see the real men and women behind the scenes who worked tiredlessly during the campaign and election of my president Barack Obama, May God continue to bless them all.