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Review #287 of 365
Film: Al Franken: God Spoke (2006) [NR] 90 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $9.50
Where Viewed: Regency Tamarac Square, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 25 October 2006
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
While the film Al Franken: God Spoke makes some good points and illustrates some of the rhetoric being used in biased journalism today as it follows Al Franken for about a year prior to re-election of President George W. Bush as he helps inaugurate Air America Radio and works to bring a multiplicity of views to the radio waves and the shelves of bookstores, the result, unfortunately overall, is very uneven Worse, many of the good points Franken tries tirelessly to make and pursue get lost in a level of filmmaking frivolity that might best be described as decidedly amateur. It is too bad, because the many Al Franken fans, fans of Air America, and fans of a nation working toward healing and restoring the luster of the flag, deserved better than this. Al Franken and his wife Franni have worked incredibly hard to offer alternatives to the one-sided Fox News and Rush Limbaughs of the American media. Al's numerous books, tours, speeches, and now the film, reveal their hopes and dreams for a better nation. The work that Franken has done to counter the rhetoric and try to hold people accountable for what the say on the air is nothing short of admirable whether one agrees with him or not. Unfortunately, there is much in the film, such as numerous scenes of Franken rolling on the floor or lying on the ground or one interminably long scene with him fighting to free a back-pack strap from an office chair roller ball foot that should have been edited out, while more fascinating footage of him verbally sparring with his conservative rivals at debates and book signings would have been more well received and interesting. Moreover, if one sliced out all of the borrowed "SNL" sketches, scenes of Franken talking about his days of growing up in Minnesota while driving a car, scenes of him lounging about looking befuddled, the entire film might last no more than 45 minutes. Even scene that was supposed to be the big pay-off of the film captured during the Republican National Convention when Franken's been invited to a big Newsweek Magazine party attended exclusively my mover shakers of the Republican Party where he might get to see Vice-President Cheney ends up turning into a dud. There's an extended period of him talking on his cell phone, sitting in a coat closet from which two, joker, Republican Senators keep trying to out him. Later, an extended conversation with elder statesman, Henry Kissinger Franken finds himself only able to say "Your son David says I do the best impression of you." There was a perfect opportunity to ask him something of purpose or for a reaction to current doctrine or an explanation for his support of a certain policy lost in place of an ego boost.
The film turns out to be neither inspirational nor very interesting. It is funny in some spots, especially when Franken demonstrates that he's still got it. It is ironic to see how venomous Bill O'Reilly becomes toward Franken while not seeming to realize that with every attack on Franken's character he makes, Franken's book sales and radio show's ratings go up. The film asserts, even, that Franken's show on Air America beat out Rush Limbaugh. Still, what could have been a powerfully humorous satire leading up to election day where Al Franken might have taken some time to show that since the 2004 election, there is even more right-wing rhetoric, even more governmental mistrust, and less faith among Republicans and Democrats alike that the country is headed in the right direction on the current course, turned into a misguided, directionless, and ultimately disappointing commercial for Al Franken's Senate campaign in Minnesota for the 2008 elections. There is no question that Mr. Franken is a great comic with his values and ideals in the right place. He just did not have the right people in charge of this film.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
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Al Franken: God Spoke (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
While Al Franken: God Spoke illustrates well some of the rhetoric being used in biased journalism today as it follows Franken for about a year prior to re-election of President Bush as he helps inaugurate Air America Radio and brings a multiplicity of views to radio and bookstores, the result, unfortunately, is very uneven. Worse, many of the good points Franken pursues are lost in decidedly amateur filmmaking frivolity. This should have been a powerfully humorous satire where Franken might have taken time to illustrate that since 2004, there is even more right-wing rhetoric, even more governmental mistrust, and less faith among Republicans and Democrats alike that the country is headed in the right direction. Unquestionably, Mr. Franken is a great comic with his values and ideals in the right place. He just did not have the right people in charge of this film.
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