The 2008 Ohio Debate (Spike Lee) is a tense and often tender exploration of the foibles and often heartwarming behind-the-scenes moments of two political primary candidates trying to make the other candidate's point. Clinton, played by Camero Diaz , is superb as the believed-to-be heir apparent Democratic nominee for president in the future foiled by the upstart Obama, played by Denzel Washington - a two time Academy Award and Golden Globe winner for best actor. Ms. Diaz , actress and former fashion model is best known for her roles in popular blockbuster movies such as The Mask, There's Something About Mary, My Best Friend's Wedding, and Schrek. She also co-starred in Charlie's Angles: Full Throttle.
The story is set in Cleveland, Ohio where the two square off in a 90-minute debate over the all too familiar real-life ground of political tactics, policy, and making sure the audience knows what the other candidate said about what issues.
The story is set in Cleveland, Ohio where the two square off in a 90-minute debate over the all too familiar real-life ground of political tactics, policy, and making sure the audience knows what the other candidate said about what issues.
Early in the film, Clinton and Obama are introduced by two moderators, Brian Williams, played by Robin Williams, and Tim Russert, played by Sylvester Stallone. Both should win awards as best supporting actors as the hard-hitting journalist who seek the truth and have grown weary of politics as usual in the United States.
After the usual formalities we have come to expect from political debates, Clinton sets the tone early when she draws the first question: "You know," she says, I have been portrayed on “Saturday Night Live” as a bitch while Obama has been portrayed as a media darling. I'm here, not to change that portrayal, but to complain about it." This line resonates with American movie goers / voters as it brings about the familiar theme of the media's role in determining candidate success.
Neither Obama, nor the moderators take the bait, and from that point on the film follows a fledgling once-was/now wannabe presidential candidate into the depths of incoherence while her opponents, reminiscent of Chauncer Gardener (aka Chance) in the 1979 film Being There merely looks on with an innocent idiocy, allowing the audience to read him like a Rorschach test - favorably! Denzel Washington is brilliant in this role and should receive a nomination for best actor later this year.
Diaz mixes a warm smile with a sharp attack — stern and tense through most of the film, delivering her lines with a fatigued monotone that is strangely poetic. By contrast, Washington, mostly silent, but kudos to his physical performance, makes certain his campaign message does not stray. He is low-key and often unsmiling, calm and unruffled, hands crossed, as Clinton deteriorates into madness.
Washington proves a brilliant foil to Diaz's tight and grim demeanor.
Yet by the end of the movie, the audience senses little evidence that Clinton had produced the kind of ground-moving moment she needed that might shift the course of a campaign that polls suggest has been moving inexorably in Obama’s direction for weeks. This is done tenderly, however, and does not leave the audience feeling anger or hatred toward the Diaz character, but, rather empathy and pity.
This film might very well be the standard by which other political films will be measured - and, perhaps, as the director, Spike Lee's most successful film within the themes he has explored in his past films, including Do the Right Thing, 4 Little Girls, She Hate Me, Bamboozled, He Got Game, Jungle Fever, Mo' Better Blues, and She's Gotta Have It.
A special congratulatory note to the set designers and make-up artists for their work in presenting an absolutely believable tone with their work.
Rating: 5 Stars
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