Political Movies To Get You Through Election Season

With The Trial of the Chicago 7 hitting Netflix today, we recommend a few terrific politically-minded films

Oct 16, 2020

We’re less than three weeks from election day, and then we can hopefully put this exhausting 2020 election season behind us. In the meantime, we have a few political movies to recommend that will either take your mind off things for a while, give you a different perspective, or drive you further into madness. Let us know.

There’s also a new politically-minded Netflix movie premiering today called The Trial of the Chicago 7, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. The movie tells the story of a group of anti-Vietnam War protestors at the 1968 Democratic National Convention that were charged with conspiracy to incite riots and tried in court. It’s one of the most high-profile movies to come out this year. You can find our review in next week’s newsletter and on our social media.

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Billy recommends…

The Death of Stalin (streaming on Netflix)

An ensemble of actors that are all slightly above “That Guys” bring excellent performances to this darkest of dark comedies. Tyrannical Josef Stalin has a cast of cronies that are trembling at his presence while admiring the power that he holds. Upon his death this group begins to backstab each other at every moment to swoop in and take up their dead leader’s mantle. Armando Iannucci’s direction uses comedy to make the sinister plot feel more palatable.

There are not many laugh-out-loud moments, but there will be a cringe smile on your face the whole time. Not a cringe that is a result of a bad movie, but each scene rides the dark line so perfectly it conflicts the soul on how to respond.

Satire works best when the group comes at it overtly from all angles. There is no need to be subtle with a topic as evil as this. Show how horrible these people were and use their clear idiocy to make some hilarious scenes. Where The Death of Stalin differentiates itself is with the dark moments. It is often not enough to just make “yucks” at the messed up subject matter. Make us see their evil so that we can laugh at them without guilt.

The world of politics is almost always serious and way too often evil. Being able to laugh at it creates a path to cope, wrestle with the subject matter, and sometimes make more clear the atrocities. The Death of Stalin is a slow ride, but with no subtlety on screen the performances are able to suck the audience into the story.

Drew recommends…

All the President’s Men (streaming on HBO Max)

“Nothing’s riding on this except the, uh, first amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country.” That quote comes near the end of All the President’s Men, after you’ve watched Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) break open the Watergate story piece by painstaking piece. This is not only one of the great movies about politics, but also one of the great movies about journalism. The sheer number of journalist careers that this film inspired has to be countless.

All the President’s Men is impressive in that it evoked authenticity and dedication to process over Hollywood sensationalism. This film is almost all dialogue. There’s no unrealistic car chases or personal family drama, just two dogged reporters tirelessly hunting down the truth after a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in D.C. sets off a historic presidential scandal. Over the years, All the President’s Men has influenced movies such as Spotlight, The Post, and Zodiac, films that followed the same principle of process over cheap action. They let you see their characters do the work.

Of course, Woodward and Bernstein weren’t as good looking as Redford and Hoffman, so that’s one area the movie goes Hollywood. Redford bought the rights to Woodward and Bernstein’s book in 1974, the same year President Richard Nixon resigned due to Watergate, and immediately started working on getting it made. One of the most amazing things about watching this film now is that it was made only a few years after the events depicted. Many people at the time appreciated it for the achievement that it was, since the movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, ultimately losing Best Picture to Rocky (Taxi Driver and Network were also nominated. Talk about a stacked year at the Oscars!).

All the President’s Men is patient and slow, and if you’re not interested in the details of Watergate you might find your attention waning, but the acting and writing skill on display is thrilling in and of itself. Redford and Hoffman provided a steady hand in the lead roles, while the writing was some of the sharpest of the era. The biggest political scandal of the 20th century deserved a knockout of a film and that’s exactly what we got.

The Ides of March (streaming on Amazon Prime)

For such a star-studded movie, it feels like people don’t talk much about 2011’s The Ides of March. With a wildly talented cast led by George Clooney, who also wrote and directed, this has become an underrated movie about the dark and dirty political realm. It’s a pessimistic view, to be sure, but it also reflects how many Americans feel about politics right about now.

Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is an idealistic press secretary for Governor Mike Morris’ (Clooney) presidential campaign. As the Ohio primary approaches, it seems like nothing can stop Morris from getting the nomination. As you may have guessed, things don’t turn out to be that simple.

While the writing in this movie doesn’t offer a ton of new insight for those familiar with political entertainment, it’s a fairly grounded portrayal of ambitious professionals working the system. The Ides of March is based on a play by Beau Willimon, who adapted his own story with Clooney’s help. Willimon went on to create the Netflix series House of Cards just a couple years later. That is a more operatic and outlandish depiction of American politics, but if you like the show you will probably like this movie too.

The Ides of March mostly shines as an actor’s showcase. The cast is filled with some of my top Phone Book Actors (actors I’d even watch read a phone book): Clooney as the distinguished presidential candidate, Gosling as the bright and driven up-and-comer, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti as rival campaign managers, and Marisa Tomei as a shrewd New York Times reporter. It’s just brilliant performers going head-to-head for an hour and 40 minutes.

Like I said, if you have a romantic view of American politics, The Ides of March is designed to shatter it. This is a pessimistic picture of a world where backstabbing, narcissism, and blackmail are the norm, which was probably a more startling revelation back in 2011 than it is now, as we’re in the midst of a depressing and excruciating election season. This is a cynical movie that somehow might not be cynical enough for 2020. The best part about The Ides of March, though, is that you can either compare it to our current situation or simply watch it to see great actors lock horns amid a contentious (and fictional) presidential race.

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