Customer Reviews

Perfect Candidate [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A fascinating documentary about Oliver North's failed US Senate race that parallels the apex of political power held by the Religious Right in the US.

As a former Democratic campaign staffer and consultant myself, the documentary captures the trials and tribulations of any busy statewide campaign and should be shown to all political science majors seeking a career in politics. However, I recommend that you view this film more than once, because by the end of the film, it can be argued that the filmmakers put the Democratic candidate, a very wishy-washy Chuck Robb, in a poor light. The scene where he was running around a supermarket looking for a hand - any hand - to shake was as hilarious as it was pathetic. By the end of the film, I thought that Chuck Robb was a nice guy who was willing to say anything to get elected, and North was a creepy demagogue who pressed a lot of populist buttons out on the stump.

I also felt that the filmmakers successfully captured North's ruthless and egocentric campaign manager as he struggled with the campaign and even some of the "big questions" of his life. He was the most fascinating character in the entire film, and I'm glad that the filmmakers paid so much attention to him. They had this leftie actually ** rooting ** for North's campaign manager by the end of the film.

Although they also are wont to show North and some of the far-right characters who supported him on the campaign trail, the documentary-makers did a fine job of stripping the film of any ideological bias and freely savaging both characters. Again, a must-see for political junkies, and a worthy view for the rest of the viewing audience.

He once embodied one of the most flagrant abuses of power ever exercised by an out of touch president, but in 1994, Oliver North took to the campaign trail, in a bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Virginia. From beginning to end, North's campaign seems to embody all the dark and hypocritical realities that American citizens suspect, but don't generally believe, our elected officials embrace in running for office. North's ruthlessness in plotting to use sexual rumors against his opponent, Senator Chuck Robb, contrasts sharply Robb's naive but honest political hayseed public persona. North is willing to stoop and crow, which may sadden those who always saw him as the fall-guy in the Iran-Contra scandal. Taylor and Cutler juxtapose North's Congressional testimony, admitting that he lied to Congress, to his "on the campaign trail" act, proselytizing to high school students about honesty. North comes off even worse than his right-wing counterparts, for while they enjoy abusing their naive opponent, they seem to know that their mean-spiritedness is a tactic, whereas North seems to enjoy the prospect of punishing Robb more than the idea of being elected.

North's campaign advisors make just as interesting a spectacle as North himself. They are, without exception, hard-working, extremely successful people. They make their living by being the sort of people who get called to either back up, or respond to, threats, attacks, complaints, schemes, and calamities. Their bravado thickens the air of the chaos that bleeds through the entire documentary.

The most revealing moment of the entire documentary is when, upon writing North's concession speech, his campaign advisor pauses in a rare moment of reflection and remarks that, while running for office is about building walls up between people, governing is about tearing them down and coming together. We soften towards him in the end, as his eyes well up upon hearing North deliver the speech, part of it being lifted from a poem inscribed on a coffee mug belonging to his grandmother.

Only upon reflection during the rare calm moments can the audience occasionally sense his disquiet. In high school civics I read that extremism in defense of liberty is no sin, but I now wonder if schmoozing, snarling, misleading, browbeating and back-scratching are.

A Perfect Candidate gives the audience a glimpse into the heart of American electoral politics.

An obvious comparison can be made between this film and Journeys with George. While the latter is more entertaining (Bush makes a much better movie star than North), this film is brutally honest in how it portrays politics in America. With that in mind, A Perfect Candidate is the better choice if you're looking for more than entertainment.

Like all good documentaries, this film doesn't come across as having an agenda. If there was an underlying agenda, it doesn't come through. The film allows you to be a fly on the wall during this campaign and I was truly amazed at what North's campaign team did and said in front of the cameras. They came across as making no effort to hide any of the bad or cynical things they did or said. At several points in the film you'll find yourself rewinding just to make sure you heard these guys right.

I don't think this film would appeal to casual observers of politics the way that Journeys with George would, but anyone that follows politics seriously will enjoy this film, regardless of your partisan or ideological leanings.

A Perfect Candidate is an entertaining documentary for anyone with the political bug. For those not remotely interested in politics, it may be less interesting. The documentary focuses primarily on the behind-the-scenes activities of Oliver North's campaign staff, and also follows a Washington Post reporter as he reports on the campaign. For anyone who wonders why Oliver North ever had supporters, or why he lost despite having some very committed supporters, this movie should answer most of your questions.

What's most fascinating about A PERFECT CANDIDATE is the inability of North and his staff to see what's going on around them: openly despised by a large percentage of their own party, publicly rebuked by fellow Republican and wildly popular US Senator John Warner and campaigning in the shadow of some of the largest negative polling figures in US political history, the North For Senate people still arrogantly assumed the office was theirs for the taking.

Seeing their stunned faces on election night is worth the price of this tape.

This is a must see for political junkies. Some of the scenes are painfully funny. While this will not have the appeal of the Clinton Campaign documentary "The War Room" it is actually more entertaining and offers more insight into the process.

This fascinating fly-on-the-wall look at Oliver North's failed bid for Congress begins as Senator John Kerry reads the long list of accusations against North during the Iran-Contra scandal: "illegal U.S. assistance to the contras, gun running, narcotics smuggling, bombing plots, shredding relevant documents, obstruction of congress, misuse of government funds..." While Kerry reads the charges, the movie cuts to then Veep George H. W. Bush, who says of North and his conspirators, "Those who serve the President haven't served the President well." We are also shown snippets of prominent Republicans, such as Bob Dole, John McCain, and John Warner, disparaging North and distancing themselves from him. (The only high profile Republican who comes out for North in the movie is Dick Cheney.) Finally, we get footage of North testifying before Congress, admitting under oath that he lied: "I misled the Congress at that meeting, face to face. I made false statements about my activities." During his testimony, North boasts about how proud he is of having taken money from the Ayatollah Khomeini. Yes, this is the same Oliver North that portrays himself as an honest American patriot on Fox News.

Cut to seven years later as North runs for a seat in Congress. The Iran-Contra scandal dogs him every step of the way, although it's also what makes him popular with hard-core Virginia Republicans. Having already seen actual documentary footage where he admits lying to Congress, we immediately know North is being dishonest when, responding to a question posed by a high school student, he categorically denies ever having misled Congress. We're not surprised by the feeding frenzy his denial provokes among journalists outside the school, who pounce on him as soon as he steps out of the building. One reporter asks, "Mr. North, if you were not convicted for lying to Congress, what was your conviction for?" Poor North, literally at a loss for words, gropes for an answer, but comes up with nothing.

Iran-Contra also comes back to haunt North during the debates. Witness the following exchange between North and one of his opponents, Doug Wilder:

WILDER [to North]: "How could you ride on a plane with drugs being in the plane? You've been in the company of people who have been convicted and sent away!"

NORTH: "It was fully investigated . . . I'm the most investigated man on this planet."

WILDER: "And I will say, Colonel, there is a very good reason for that to be the case."

The crowd goes nuts with cheers as we watch the stunned, dumbstruck North reel.

The documentary also explores the somewhat radical nature of the North supporters in Virginia. We visit one rally where a woman gives her son a rifle and asks him, "What do we shoot?" The tot responds, "Pigeons and Democrats." North himself spends time shooting/killing rabbits before a cheering crowd. At another event, an old Confederate matron--who describes herself as "a DAR and a UDC and Dames of the Court of Honor"--rattles off exactly what she thinks about "the minority race." It's no wonder when North's enemies start tagging him with the name David Duke. To counter this, North tries to turn the race issue around on Democrat Chuck Robb, his chief rival for the Senate seat. At a press conference, North denies promoting the Confederate flag, then mysteriously accuses Robb of "wearing a Confederate tie on the day he criticized me for it." The movie instantly cuts to a behind-the-scenes shot of North's own Communications Director, Mark Merritt, bewildered and nervously saying, "That sounds a little suspect to me." Indeed, North had just given journalists--and the documentarians--another field day.

The movie shows North's campaign team planning a negative political add against Robb, who had been in a scandal involving Tai Collins, a Playboy model. (By the way, Robb's father-in-law is none other than LBJ.) Instead of the sober, puritanical meeting from the born-again Christians that the North team claims to be, we get a vulgar display as North's people bite into the scandalous material with drooling relish. While North's Senior Strategist, Mark Goodin, cracks off-color jokes, the documentary suddenly breaks to give us Goodin's background. In the late 80s, as Communications Director for the Republican National Committee, Goodin had released what was taken in Washington to be an underhanded memo accusing House Speaker Tom Foley of homosexuality and calling on him to "come out of the liberal closet." George H. W. Bush had called the memo, which also tainted Lee Atwater, "disgusting." Goodin was fired. Since his job as North's Strategist is supposed to be his big comeback after the Foley debacle, Goodin's story is one of the most compelling in the documentary. Goodin takes the whole campaign personally, getting more emotional about it even than North. Goodin is also the movie's most candid character. Not only does he have a potty mouth, he says such honest things as: "North is the triumph of anger in politics." Indeed, we watch how North, portraying himself as the victim of a vast left wing conspiracy, tries to harness the widespread bitterness to his advantage. In one touching scene, Goodin laments the ultimate irony about American politics, perhaps about politics everywhere: campaigns are about dividing, while governing is about bringing people together. This is the dilemma politicians face.

As bad as North comes off, the movie savages his Democratic opponent Chuck Robb. In one devastating scene, Robb searches for voters in a supermarket. Attracting absolutely no attention, he begins, quite intrusively and awkwardly, to approach customers in a desperate attempt to make contact. Despite Robb's total lack of charisma, however, North loses the campaign because of his constant lying about Iran-Contra, and also because of the racism of his supporters.

I highly recommend this first-rate political film, particularly for the astonishing degree of access achieved by the filmmakers. I was shocked at what the North team allowed to be filmed. For instance, there's a hilarious scene on the rolling campaign bus where North is speaking seriously and soberly about governing while Goodin, who is sitting right behind him, swills a beer and gorges on a hamburger.

As a prof, I sometimes need a break from lecturing. It's true, I don't always like to hear myself talk. When this happens I like to show a movie about American politics. This is one of the ones, usually a way to cover campaigns and campaign strategy. It does a great job of informing students about what these topics are by showing vibrant examples of both. My only complaint is that the movie is getting a little long in the tooth. Most of my freshmen were born after Iran-Contra, so they just don't bring the knowledge to make this movie great. It's just before their time. If you have nontraditional students, they can help get the others up to speed and make the experience great. Anyway, a great flick for class, and break for the prof. If you need a "younger" movie, try see how they run.

I actually thought A Perfect Candidate was pretty good. I've been a huge fan of Oliver North since 1994 when he ran for U.S. Senate. I recommend A Perfect Candidate to anyone on the right or the left who is interested in politics.

As a veteran of a statewide campaign myself, "A Perfect Candidate" brought back a flood of memories from the statewide campaign. Following around the ill-fated Ollie North for Senate campaign, I was reminded of the tremendous highs & lows one feels during a campaign. Likewise, the movie has its own highs and lows, tedious and repetitive at times, smart and quick at others. Perhaps not the best movie ever made, a fun movie for any political veteran missing the campaign trail, or any political observer looking for insights into life in the war room. A warning: this movie is not for all movie-goers. If you don't like politics, you're not going to like this movie.