The Perfect Candidate

The title of this movie confused me...until I saw it. I knew that the documentary followed Oliver North's ultimately unsuccessful bid for Chuck Robb's seat in the Senate in 1994, and I also knew that one of the film's two directors had produced The War Room, a very sympathetic look at the Clinton campaign of '92. Was it intended ironically, as a smirking reference to North's dewy-eyed "sincerity"? After seeing the film, I understood the title completely: it was a reference to what voters in Virginia in 1994 were not remotely going to find. (One person interviewed accurately characterized the choice as "Which disease do you want? How do you wanna be sick?") Ostensibly a behind-the-scenes look at North and his entourage, the film is more effective as a depressing and disheartening portrayal of the depths to which contemporary politics, and politicians, have sunk. The James Carville figure here is North's main mover-and-shaker, Mark Goodin, who is a bit less flamboyant than the Ragin' Cajun, but ultimately more interesting; the best scene in the film is the one in which he momentarily drops his defenses, candidly and bitterly assessing the merits of his function in society. Recommended. (M. D'Angelo)