THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240030
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 78 lines
WE'VE LIVED through it. Now, can we live it down?
Among the co-stars listed for ``A Perfect Candidate,'' the cynical, bitterly disillusioned documentary about the 1994 Oliver North-Chuck Robb Senate race, are the ``people of Virginia.'' The alleged ``drug parties in Virginia Beach'' that made local news are reaching national audiences.
The second-most-expensive senatorial campaign in history (North raised $20 million) is seen as a circus that indicts the political system. It leaves us frustrated and exhausted, but it is highly entertaining.
Given that ``A Perfect Candidate'' was produced and directed by two liberal Democrats, R.J. Cutler, who made ``The War Room,'' about the 1992 Clinton campaign, and David Van Taylor, viewers might expect a North diatribe.
It is not. Cutler and Van Taylor accumulated 150 hours of film and screened 75 hours of TV news footage before honing it down to a 105-minute documentary.
They also had greater access to North; consequently, the Republican, ``the Elvis of politics,'' gets more of a chance to display his charismatic style. Coming just seven years after his Iran-Contra testimony, he was called a martyr and a traitor. In either case, he knows how to rally the troops.
Both men - Robb was narrowly re-elected - have given their reviews of the documentary.
North, with faint praise, told the Washington Post ``it's not a grossly unfair portrait.'' Robb said, ``The filmmakers seemed preoccupied with denigrating me,'' adding, ``fortunately, they couldn't change the outcome, and Ollie North and I both ended up in the roles for which we're best-suited.''
Robb's put-down is, indeed, more palpable - and cruel. One sequence contrasts North's enthusiastic crowds with Robb wandering a deserted grocery store. In another, Robb, uncomfortably trying to reach the common man, mistakes a Laundromat for a diner.
The camera unmercifully dwells on a tongue-tied Robb during a debate dominated by North.
``It's like choosing between mumps and the flu,'' says one unidentified observer.
The idea that politics and show business are closely related is surely nothing new, especially when Elizabeth Taylor once played a major role in shaping Virginia politics. Still, the matchup of the two ex-Marines rivals the most bizarre comedy that Fellini might imagine.
The cynical title comes from a sermon in which a minister, who was endorsing Robb, points out ``there are no perfect candidates available.'' He seemingly has nothing good to say about Robb, except that he is not North. Robb is seen squirming in the front pew.
As a historical record, the film is lacking in details. It acknowledges that Douglas Wilder's cave-in steered voters Robb's way, but all but ignores Marshall Coleman's independent candidacy.
The filmmakers, though, had a brilliant stroke of luck, or inventiveness, in finding two supporting characters to carry their narrative.
Mark Goodin, North's senior adviser, typifies the cold manipulation that is a part of modern politics.
``Getting people elected, whether we like it or not, is not pretty,'' he says, ignoring the camera that must have been in his face. ``Getting people elected, unfortunately, has a lot to do with dividing, setting up a base of support and fracturing off those that will fracture. It's like busting a big rock.''
The most unique character, though, is veteran Washington Post reporter Don Baker. He comes off as a kind of Greek chorus, an idealist who looks with jaundice at both candidates. In what is perhaps the film's most telling moment, he tries to recall the last politician he could respect. His silence may well speak for the audience, too.
In a world in which voters are increasingly bemoaning their choices, or lack of them, ``A Perfect Candidate'' is a painful mirror. ILLUSTRATION: MOVIE REVIEW
``A Perfect Candidate''
Cast: Oliver North, Chuck Robb, Don Baker, Mark Goodin, Bill
Clinton and ``the people of Virginia''
Directors: R.J. Cutler and David Van Taylor
MPAA rating: Not rated (some language)
Mal's rating: ***
Location: Naro in Norfolk
by CNB