Director Michael Ritchie (DIGGSTOWN) takes a very Robert Altman-approach to this fly-on-the-wall look at a Senatorial campaign. Marvin Lucas (Peter Boyle, TAXI DRIVER) is a top campaign advisor for the Democratic Party, who convinces civil rights attorney Bill McKay (Robert Redford, THE STING) to run against Republican incumbent senator Crocker J. Jarmon (Don Porter, TV’s GIDGET).
Lucas convinces McKay to run on issues, because Jarmon is a shoo-in to win. McKay takes the bait. We discover that McKay is also the son of a popular former Californian governor John J. McKay (Melvyn Douglas, BEING THERE). Bill McKay is pretty liberal and Jarmon is pretty conservative. Jarmon is a very polished politician while McKay is a bit rough around the edges.
The film perceptively and poignantly looks at how the campaign managers around McKay really run the show and how McKay gets wrapped up in the chaos. The film shows how the process of running and gaining a chance to win slowly make McKay bend his principles without him even realizing it.
Redford really makes the role his own. We believe he is Bill McKay. Ritchie’s choice of style with the overlapping dialogue and documentary visual look adds to the film’s realism. The picture is a solid examination that has something quite poignant to say about the American political process.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
