The American President

For me this holds up better than The Truman Show, seems funnier and deeper over time. Especially given the afterlife of these knowingly Capra-esque capers in an authentically rendered White House, what with writer Aaron Sorkin taking the chops honed here to The West Wing, where Martin Sheen moved up from chief of staff to the President’s chair. Michael Douglas is effectively triple-threat -- jut-jawed as widowed President, believably smitten by lobbyist Annette Bening (she of the wide-open eyes and wit as quick as her words), able to take his pratfalls with expert timing. Michael Fox, David Paymer, and others are also familiar to these precincts, and Richard Dreyfuss contributes a turn as the opposing Republican candidate. Watching the film again, a telling instance of the Hollywoodization of Washington, offers plenty of reflection on the intervening ten years of presidential politics. Foreshadowing Monicagate behind the scenes, the film’s focus on global warming and energy consumption as an issue is as fresh as today’s news. Astounding that ten years have passed without the first step being taken, as proposed here. Amazing how different the political environment -- except not so. The Republican electoral strategy described here has certainly been followed to a T: find something to fear and find someone to blame. Rob Reiner has definitely made sharp, funny films in his day, though now he’s probably looking to retire to the California governor’s mansion. (1995, dvd@cai, r.) *7+*

It’s only worth taking note of the harmless but juiceless The Boys and Girl from County Clare (2004) to make the promise that Kevin O’Hara and I will team up to write a much more flavorful screenplay, both tighter and more open-ended, out of some of the same Irish themes and scenes, as we adapt the just-optioned Last of the Donkey Pilgrims for the screen. Mike Haley is set to produce, soon after he is honored this May at the first Berkshire International Film Festival, for a long career culminating with an Emmy for the HBO production of Angels in America. (At the moment he is off to Morocco for location scouting on Charlie Wilson’s War, a film starring Tom Hanks and directed by Mike Nichols.) So if my blogging slows down, you’ll know it’s because I’m trying to make a movie instead of commenting on them.