Bush's Brain

Adapted from the book of the same name by James C. Moore and Wayne Slater, Bush's Brain focuses laser-like on Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's chief advisor and political strategist, widely credited with securing the White House for the former governor of Texas. Rove, who looks like the Pillsbury doughboy with wire-rimmed glasses and a pate of wispy gray hair, is portrayed as a modern-day Svengali with Machiavellian qualities. Filmmakers Michael Paradies Shoob and Joseph Mealey grudgingly attribute to Rove considerable brilliance, but they go out of their way to depict him as cold-bloodedly ruthless, a malevolent puppet master who, through Bush, has achieved political power that he could never have hoped to obtain as a candidate himself (Rove is not the kind of guy that “plays well” on TV or in public). There's certainly evidence to support this view, and it's presented very effectively, but the documentarians undercut their case by displaying a palpable mean-spiritedness--tempered with ridicule--that ultimately makes Bush's Brain more of a partisan attack. Following on the heels of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, TLA's release will likely be embraced by the sizable portion of the population that loathes Dubya and anyone connected with his administration. But, like Moore's occasionally intellectually dishonest screed, Bush's Brain will be seen by others as nothing more than election-year agitprop. Recommended, overall. (E. Hulse)