THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
SOMEHOW, Chuck Robb did hang on to his U.S. Senate seat in the 1994 elections. Exactly how is a matter of fair debate.
Maybe it was Doug Wilder's last-minute endorsement. Maybe Robb was simply the lesser of two evils. Maybe, in the solitude of the voting booth, many Virginians who desired change found themselves unable to pull the lever for Oliver North.
``A Perfect Candidate,'' a lengthy documentary about the dramatic Senate race, debuts tonight at The Washington Film Festival. Its producer, R.J. Cutler, was one of the youthful masterminds behind ``The War Room,'' the much-acclaimed, behind-the-scenes look at Bill Clinton's campaign for president.
The ironic title of the movie does not refer to either candidate. Robb comes across as little more than a bumbling comedic prop. North, at first blush, appears to be much closer to perfection. Scene after scene reflects his power as a speaker, his immense personal charm and the uncritical devotion of his followers.
``He's Elvis,'' declared Mark Goodin, North's chief strategist, after one such display. ``People look at Ollie and see whatever they want to be. . . . I don't care what Chuck Robb says. He'd give his left testicle to have it.''
Next, the movie shifts to Robb in a devastating one-two sequence. First, the senator approaches a couple outside a store and gibbers something about being hungry. ``It's a Laundromat,'' the woman tells Robb, who rushes on in search of food. Next, he enters an almost-deserted grocery store, trudges down empty aisles before finding a hand to shake, and then speeds off.
And yet, somehow, Robb won and North lost. The central flaw in the documentary is its failure to explain why anyone - let alone 1 million voters - would choose Robb, given the one-dimensional portrayal in the film.
Let me note here my own role in this real life drama: Not only did I devote at least a year of my life to covering the campaign, but I also ended up in the film. I'm shown several times doing my job. Although I receive a credit at the end, I won't make a penny from the movie. Suffice to say, I play myself superbly.
Cutler and his co-producer, David Van Taylor were constants on the campaign trail with their film crews and boom microphones. Clearly the two Harvard classmates were compelled by the drama of North, who once lied to Congress, and now covets a seat.
The question is whether the success of their venture depended on North winning. The documentary's tone suggests the filmmakers anticipated North going to the Senate and got caught flat-footed when Robb went back.
Perhaps Robb really didn't matter in the campaign and shouldn't in the documentary. Perhaps the message is that Robb didn't really win the campaign as much as North lost it - with a series of last-minute gaffes that made voters question his honesty.
Robb is a non-entity on film partly because the crew had virtually no behind-the-scenes access to Robb or his campaign. North and his aides were more cooperative, although some of what they say for the camera seems canned or calculated. And the crew wasn't in the back rooms with either campaign when any crucial decisions were made.
These points aside, the film captures a great deal of honesty. There are gripping scenes of crowds swarming North, of one homosexual berating another for supporting North, and of Robb campaigning for black votes.
Cutler says he intends to make a sweeping statement on the ``dark side of politics today.'' In addition to the candidates, the film has two stars: Goodin and Don Baker, a longtime Richmond correspondent for The Washington Post. The film traces their reactions and growing disillusionment with politics.
Goodin is the cherubic-looking adviser dangling an ever-present cigarette. The film details his tireless efforts to convince reporters that Robb's much-reported womanizing in the 1980s raised more troubling character questions than North's deceit in Iran-Contra.
Early on, Goodin is shown giggling about Robb's fidelity with other North advisers. But as the campaign progresses, Goodin starts struggling with the nature of his work.
``. . . We have to serve up the daily entertainment, the daily side show,'' he says. ``Getting people elected is not pretty. It has a lot to do, unfortunately, with dividing. . . It's like busting up a big rock. You try to chip off your piece and then break the rest into so many smithereens that they don't matter.
``But that's different from what it takes to govern,'' Goodin adds. ``What it takes to govern is all about finding consensus on difficult issues and bringing people together, people who don't always agree, into some sense of common purpose. But we are obsessed with getting people elected. And we are obsessed with putting on the show.''
On election night, Goodin is angry and teary. The solution he finds for his dilemma may be the film's most intriguing moment.
``A Perfect Candidate'' is scheduled to be released to theaters in June. It is a good movie for political junkies. Ollie North fans will love it. One can see them years from now, sitting in front of the VCR remembering the days when North appeared to be winning and uproariously mouthing the words to another Robb gaffe.
But to the casually interested or those seeking the deeper meanings of the race, the documentary comes up short and, at nearly three hours, long. MEMO: For ticket information, call (202) 785-4600.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Oliver North
Chuck Robb
by CNB