SnoopyStyle
This is a behind-the-scene of Barack Obama's Presidential campaign. It starts with him watching the mid-term election in 2006. He would announce a few months later. This follows the campaign all the way to the night of victory.This is in the same vein as the great documentary "The War Room (1993)" which followed Bill Clinton's campaign. It is inferior in a couple of ways. It's been done before. It's now more or less a historical document at this point. I would have loved one for W. The other problem is the limited drama.This one follows more with people further down the food chain. "The War Room" followed James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. They were great characters near the top of the food chain. This one is a lot of (to quote Palin) Hopey Changey thing. It follows organizer Ronnie Cho who is representative of the ground troops. The upper level stuff is never quite so compelling. It feels like we're just outside of the war room. It might also be Obama's calm persona injecting into his campaign or that everybody is tapping away at their Blackberry. This is a nice recount of the campaign. I can't help but wonder if Hilary's campaign has a more compelling behind-the-scenes movie.
lisa-629
Whether you like Obama or not, this film is an excellent documentary following a successful campaign. Axelrod and Gibbs played a crucial role in Obama's election, and this film highlights the brilliant ideas they came up with along the way. The movie doesn't play favorites, and doesn't appear biased against McCain and towards Obama, it is simply a film showing how hard it is and the path this President took to achieve his goals and aspirations. I would recommend this film for anyone interested in the behind the scenes work behind Obama's campaign. As far as history goes, Obama's election is a milestone, whether you like it or not. That being said, his steps to the highest office are wonderfully culminated in this documentary.
pcadry
Regardless of your political views, this documentary is awesome. Being a moderate in today's politics seems eerie. It seems as if you have to be part of the "fringe" or you don't "fit in". Anyway, The film takes you on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs of the campaign (mostly up).I wasn't a particular fan of the President but still voted for him because he seemed to convey the hope that we can come together after the previous disastrous administration. Very little of this mans charisma comes through in the film though,which was a disappointment.Overall the film is entertaining for anyone interested in politics or the President himself. He could be one of our greatest if given the chance and the hard right will work with him.I would have rated this film higher,albeit not enough about the Presidents essence and demeanor.
lallaisdownnotout27
This documentary was thought provoking and had great insight into a process most of us only get to see from the outside.I loved seeing the emotional aspect of a campaign, most of the time you only see the "campaign face" of the people who are running and the staff behind them. I thought it was great to see the interaction of Obama's family, including his sisters. This movie showed how hard they worked and the impact it leaves on their whole lives; sleep deprivation, long hard hours for years, families that get put on hold, and relationships that are formed. Seeing the road to victory behind the scenes was great and seeing Obama's candid reactions to wins, losses, family, and various topics brought that human quality to him.I wish they could have shown more, though as you will see in the movie, if you watch the extras, they had a very hard time getting access throughout the years of filming, so what they did wind up with was a bunch of amazing clips that were cut short and left you wanting to see more. I understand that it was about Obama's election, but it would have helped (especially future generations) to see how other candidates won and lost, if only a few explanations here and there, not a main focus. Since I followed this election enthusiastically I can see the ups and downs in my mind, but after a few years and other generations come, people will be wondering; What the heck happened? How did he defeat McCain? In a way I wish we could have seen a little more negativity instead of just people being nice, everyone knows there is infighting and way more drama then just tears in a campaign. I felt that was a crucial missing part and left out big gaps.Overall this was a great documentary, especially since you get to see it from before he even put his name in the hat to run. They saw something in this man and early on (even earlier then they got to film and got approval) and followed this historic election all the way to the White House. Watch the special features on the DVD, they are Great too, even the commentary added that you can listen to the two women explain throughout the movie how everything came together and went down. Extra scenes help explain a lot and were great as well. I was always an Obama supporter and this just reinforced my views. Seeing any! behind the scenes footage is a great treat and well fought for and sought after.