Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder My wife and I are fascinated by it. We've watched it 3-4 times now.
Originally Posted By mele We don't have HBO anymore but I am really tempted to get it just for this film. From what I've read, the movie is kinder to Palin than what viewers expected; she's painted in a more sympathetic light...your opinion(s)?
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 I was thinking of getting HBO again because of Game of Thrones and Eastbound and Down.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "I was thinking of getting HBO again because of Game of Thrones and Eastbound and Down." And, I think, therein lies an age difference thing or a generational gap because I don't get those shows at all, especially Eastbound and Down. I keep waiting for a cohesive narrative and it just never happens. But I digress.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "From what I've read, the movie is kinder to Palin than what viewers expected; she's painted in a more sympathetic light...your opinion(s)?" In the sense that she's portrayed as genuinely devoted to her family, sure. If there's such a thing, too much so, but you'd be hard pressed to make that seem like a bad thing to many people. However, if you're the Governor of a state, or want to be Vice President, you also have to realize there are sacrifices you have to make when it comes to prioritizing your responsibilities, and most often your family is going to have to come after your job. The movie portrayed her as not being able to multi-task at all, balancing her family and her political interests. If the movie is even halfway true, this country didn't just dodge a bullet, we dodged a nuclear bomb. You'll have to pardon my piggish male traits, but everytime I see Julianne Moore now I think of the, um, sex scene in the Kids Are Alright where her male partner is, well, behind her. Anyway, she's a dead ringer for Palin here, and for that matter, so is Ed Harris as John McCain. They both sell it well, and after a while, you don't realize they're actors, the movie almost feels like a documentary. It goes very fast and there aren't many scenes at all where it drags. Most of us are familiar with what happened, so I won't repeat the details. But for me, the fact McCain's chief campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, and Nicolle Wallace, another advisor initially assigned to Palin, have vouched for its authenticity speaks volumes as to just how bad Palin was and still is. We all saw the public gaffes, and now we know why we saw what we saw. The movie is a great look at how the process works, at least the 2008 McCain process. They took on a win at all costs approcah, because the Dems were presenting either the first woman President or the first black President. The GOP felt they needed to shake things up, and they were conned by Palin's first impression so much they didn't delve any further. Schmidt and Wallace are now all over the airwaves explaining that while they did indeed make a mistake of epic proportions selecting Palin, they believe this will warn off both parties in the future from any "novelty" candidate. Everyone will be vetted like they've never been vetted before. McCain comes across as a very decent man, despite all the f bombs his character throws around. The real McCain is now saying he's not that "coarse", but I didn't think it was a negative. Anyone who has been through what he has in his life has more than earned it, and frankly, I would expect it. From the movie, I got the impression he delegated far too much and trusted his advisors rather than his instincts. Had he taken more control, we likely would have had say, a McCain/Lieberman administration these last few years. Oh well. The GOP party line about this movie is a tepid "it's not true", but I don't think most people are buying it, except for the gullible, hard core, and yes, stupid GOP base. There simply are too many things we know to be true about Palin because they occurred right in front of us, and there's no way in hell the rest of it can all be a fabrication. McCain's advice to Palin about not letting herself fall in with Limbaugh because he and his ilk will destroy the GOP is now sadly prophetic. This is a very engrossing movie, and for the smart aleck crowd, it could be classified as one of the scariest political horror movies ever made.
Originally Posted By ecdc SPP's summary pretty much nails it. Palin doesn't come across as a monster—it shows how much she loves working the crowd and just talking to people. She obviously likes and cares qbout "the real Americans." She loves her family and is outraged at the attacks on them. But then, that's also the negative for her; she's obsessed with the petty stuff and just can't let it go. And, wow. I know FAR more about foreign and even national policy issues than this woman. That's not a comment on my knowledge, but on the lack of Palin's. It's just shocking. Palin represents the hardcore of the GOP base: ignorant, angry, fearful, no matter how much they might mean well. McCain comes across really well, I thought. And as for this: >>From the movie, I got the impression he delegated far too much and trusted his advisors rather than his instincts.<< Absolutely, and I think people would be surprised at how little contact he actually had with Palin during the campaign. It's a double-edged sword for McCain's reputation: he can genuinely be described as not getting how bad she was, but then, it's ultimately his campaign and his responsibility. I also loved the depiction of the rallies and people screaming at McCain that Obama's a Muslim and a terrorist. We saw this stuff happen before our very eyes, and showing that the McCain camp was genuinely appalled was a nice touch.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I haven't seen it yet but we DVR'd it. Really looking forward to it. Schmidt says it's remarkably accurate, and he ought to know.
