The big question here is the final one: What do we do now?
Added 11/2/2004
I do not have to tell anyone that the look behind the scenes at the fictional California senate race in the 1972 film "The Candidate" remains realistic and relevant today. The sophistication employed by candidates and their supporters in putting together campaign ads has certainly become progressively slicker and sicker, but what we see in Michael Ritchie's drama is essentially what we still get today. The tagline for "The Candidate" was: "Nothing matters more than winning. Not even what you believe in," a sentiment that is certainly true today, Election Day 2004. Both of the candidates, George W. Bush and John F. Kerry, were nominated by their parties because of the perception that they could win the election. Bush had been re-elected governor of Texas, so he had the requisite weight to going up against Al Gore. Kerry had served in Vietnam, so he would be able to talk about national security. Neither man has ever been accused of being a visionary leader in the mold of John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan.
Since Robert Redford is in the title role he certainly has the requisite charisma to be that sort of candidate. He is Bill McKay, the son of a former governor, John J. McKay (Melvyn Douglas), and he has been working as a lawyer and trying to get away from daddy's shadow. McKay is talked into being essentially the sacrificial lamb against the incumbent, conservative Senator Crocker Jarmon (Don Porter), because it will be a way of publicizing the issues he cares about. Since he is going to lose big-time, the handsome and articulate McKay is given permission to go out and (horrors) say whatever he really wants. The problem is that his ideas are starting to resonate with the electorate and he is starting to gain in the polls, at which point he starts getting handles by Democratic operative Marvin Lucas (Peter Boyle), who knows how to play hardball. Lucas brings in a "media specialist," Allen Garfield (Howard Klein), who knows how to package a candidate so that it is all about image over substance. After all, now that he can actually win, young McKay has to pay attention to what he actually says.
Like "Network," this film is something of a satire, but it keeps things pretty realistic and avoids plunging into black comedy. The closest "The Candidate" comes to the edge is in my favorite scenes, which is when Robert Redford's character is in the back of his limo getting a bit silly with his campaign spiel: "Can't any longer play off black against old, young against poor. This country cannot house its houseless, feed its foodless." Then he ends up making weird noises and doing a Nixon impersonation. There is, of course, an authenticity to this unguarded moment that goes way beyond the well-scripted public performances of the political candidate.
It has been three decades and "The Candidate" is still at the top of my list for cinematic representations of the seedy side of politics, assuming, for the sake of argument, that those terms are not redundant. You really do believe that McKay wants to do and say the right thing, and his compromises are reluctant. When he makes the necessary deal with a labor leader (Kevin Tobey) to get votes in return for favors, we know that McKay is aware that he has just sold his soul and that he is not at all convinced the exchanged is going to be worth the trade.
The film was scripted by Jeremy Larner, who I understand was a former speech writer for Eugene McCarthy, which explains why it has a sense of authenticity above and beyond what we usually get in such movies. Larner ends "The Candidate" with a true note of horror, as the winning candidate asks, almost helplessly, "What do we do now?" Sometime tonight, assuming for the sake of argument that we will actually know who has won the election by the time the clock strikes midnight, that is a question that many of us will be asking, even if we are not the one who has just been given a four year lease on the White House.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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Redford Rules!!
Added 4/5/2004
Robert Redford rules in this great film "The Candidate".It's a must see film!!
0 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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the seminal modern political campaign drama
Added 11/30/2009
I saw this when it came out and was utterly riveted by it. It was the first political film I had ever seen and got me interested in politics, of which I became quite the junky. I believe this was one of the first films to attempt to create a realistic and subtle drama about the political process, at least in elections.
This time around, I got it for my kids. I admit that I watched it with some trepidation, hoping I would like it as much as I did the first time. Fortunately, it passed the test! We all became engrossed and discussed it afterwards, which was exactly what I hoped would happen.
One scary thing about the film, as my left-wing wife put it, is how little has changed - the US has scarcely moved on from the issues as presented in the film. First, abortion is a big deal, as is gun control. Second, there is the issue of government involvement in the economy, decried as socialist etc etc. Third, there is the environment, also hotly debated in much the same terms as today - developers v. tree huggers. Finally, the best portrayed issue is the campaign process itself, which transmogrifies the candidate's message with the necessity of TV's dumbing down. As we can see with the incendiary tactics used today, not even the internet has changed things much.
Warmly recommended. This film demonstrates the potential that film can have in sparking thought and debate. That it is so relevant is depressing.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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The Candidate on DVD
Added 9/25/2009
Very much enjoy this movie. Robert Redford does a terrific job in the starring role. This is a movie that I would like to see an updated verision/remake done of the movie.
Watching this gives you an idea of the garbage that happens during a political campaign (and things are not any different today, as they were when this film was made).
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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EXCELLENT POLITICAL FLICK
Added 2/7/2009
Robert Redford was behind the entertaining political movie "The Candidate" (1972), which goes a long way towards explaining how the game works. This film is really not a liberal one, which is what makes it worthwhile even after 30 years. It is supposed to be based on Edmund "Jerry" Brown, former California Governor Pat Brown's son. Jerry Brown at the time was a youthful Secretary of State who would go one to two terms as Governor. He was a new kind of pol, attractive, a bit of swinger who dated rock star Linda Rohnstadt, and representative of the Golden State image of the 1970s. They called him "Governor Moonbeam".
Redford plays the son of the former Governor of California, played by Melvyn Douglas. The old man is old school all the way, having schmoozed his way up the slippery slope through implied corrupt deals with labor unions and other Democrat special interests. Redford is a young man who played football at Stanford and is now a social issues lawyer of the pro bono variety, helping Mexicans in Central California. Peter Boyle knew him at Stanford and is now a Democrat political consultant who recruits Redford to run for Senator against Crocker Jarman, an entrenched conservative Orange County Republican. Jarman could be Reagan, but he is as much a composite of the traditional Republican: Strong on defense, down on affirmative action and welfare, a real "up by the bootstraps" guy who emerged from the Depression and World War II to make up our "greatest generation."
The film does an about-face on perceptions that, in many cases, turn out to be true. Redford is the rich kid with connections. Jarman beat the Depression like the rest of the U.S., without a social worker.
"How did we do it?" he mocks.
Redford's film wife is played by Karen Carlson, pure eye candy (but what happened to her career I cannot say?). She has ambitions of her own, and pushes him to do it because he has the "power," an undefined sexual charisma of the JFK variety. Redford plays a caricature of himself, handsome but considered an empty suit. His deal is he can say any outrageous thing because he cannot win anyway, and in so doing shows he has the brains. When he creeps up in the polls, the idealism gives way to standard politicking, complete with deals with his old man's crooked labor buddies. He wins, demonstrating the power of looks and TV advertising. In the end he expresses that he is not prepared for the task.
3 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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Thought-Provoking
Added 10/18/2008
During the season leading up to the 2008 Presidential Elections, this film raises some interesting questions about the role of the media in shaping who we believe politicians are. After this, and similar films, one has to wonder about the reality of the men being considered for the country's highest office.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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That's my Stepdad!!!
Added 10/18/2008
In the movie, The Candidate,
there is a scene early in the film, during the campaign,under a real San Francisco overcast sky, The Candidate, Robert Redford faces a gaggle local reporters
including KGO channel 7 (!) Amongst the actors playing security personnel theres' a rather handsome silver haired guy standing close to Mr. Redford's right shoulder.
Its a bit part but in real life it is a big high for
myself and my family - that guy is Bill Tuohy - my Stepfather. In real life he was a highly ranked San Francisco Firefigher whose hobbies ranged from competing in the San Francisco Fireman's Olympics to landing little acting parts now and then. At home he never ran out love and affection for me and my sisters. So easy going.
Can't wait to see him in the movie on DVD
Love you, Bill
0 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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the seminal modern political campaign drama
Added 11/30/2009
I saw this when it came out and was utterly riveted by it. It was the first political film I had ever seen and got me interested in politics, of which I became quite the junky. I believe this was one of the first films to attempt to create a realistic and subtle drama about the political process, at least in elections.
This time around, I got it for my kids. I admit that I watched it with some trepidation, hoping I would like it as much as I did the first time. Fortunately, it passed the test! We all became engrossed and discussed it afterwards, which was exactly what I hoped would happen.
One scary thing about the film, as my left-wing wife put it, is how little has changed - the US has scarcely moved on from the issues as presented in the film. First, abortion is a big deal, as is gun control. Second, there is the issue of government involvement in the economy, decried as socialist etc etc. Third, there is the environment, also hotly debated in much the same terms as today - developers v. tree huggers. Finally, the best portrayed issue is the campaign process itself, which transmogrifies the candidate's message with the necessity of TV's dumbing down. As we can see with the incendiary tactics used today, not even the internet has changed things much.
Warmly recommended. This film demonstrates the potential that film can have in sparking thought and debate. That it is so relevant is depressing.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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