A Vida Íntima de um Político

Awfully familiar stuff about persons who take pride in the career over their family and power corrupting, the film is however quite well acted, which brings it above par of its type. Alan Alda and Meryl Streep are both excellent, and although Melvyn Douglas won an Oscar in the same year as this film for 'Being There', he deserves it more here. The acting bridges on being melodramatic from the rest of the cast, but it is hard not to call this a well acted film with those three great performances. There is also some insight into American politics, but the film does assume a bit more than just a basic understanding already, and therefore there is a chance that viewers not familiar with American politics will wind up confused. The music choices are rather poor, and there is one very silly sequence put to square dancing music. Overall though, this is a reasonable film. It does have its flaws, but it has excellent acting to compensate. It might not show anything new or explain everything well, but it is certainly adequate entertainment for its running time.

a highly underestimated work definitely worth revisiting. it's a portrayal of sexual politics and power in washington d.c. that is still relevant today. it features a stunningly real and moving performance by the great barbara harris. bring her back!

How did she pilot that plane ? Maybe it should have been run on Netflix Rip Torn's character is a real pig but at least know it In the bedroom scene between Alda and Streep in a room with a bed and that's what the room is for his character to get her character in bed this is less about politics and more about the sex but I did not think the sex scene was all that funny a man betraying his family and children is not funny didn"t someone say that Karen Traynor helped him fight another senate battle which says this wasn't their first go round with one another and he was power tripping from the get-go the trivia it never mentioned that Alan Alda had personally picked Meryl Streep for this picture

I was a senatorial intern in the 70's. (Fortunately never seduced.)

But this film accurately depicted the City of the Time.

Watch for the two or three second bit that depicts the "auto-pen."

When I was an intern, I was interviewed by my small-hometown-newspaper, and instructed by my supervisor that I could discuss anything, I could even disagree with the Senator, but I WAS NOT TO MENTION THE AUTO-PEN!!!

The auto-pen was a device that manipulated an actual felt-tip pen to produce a signature replica to make it appear that the Senator had actually signed a letter.

Well-acted, occasionally well-observed drama which fails to deliver on its early promise. Joe Tynan is a forthright U.S. Senator, the latest young liberal hotshot, who jeopardizes his long-term marriage and home-life by initiating an affair with a civil rights activist. He's been carrying on with this also-married woman in various hotel rooms on the road, though Tynan's unhappy wife has more on her mind than his infidelity: she wants a life away from the political arena. As Tynan, Alan Alda, who also scripted, opens the film pressing Congress to pass a bill that would create a million new jobs in a distressed economy. One may watch this sequence and feel he's come upon a recent Congressional hearing via C-SPAN. Unfortunately, Bill Conti's animated music reminds us this is just a political lark--a vehicle for Alda, then a hot property from television's "M*A*S*H"--while the film's poor color and visual composition give hint this theatrical release was made on a limited budget. Alda becomes a Presidential hopeful practically off-screen, while his constituents bray in the background and play trade-off with each other's wives at Washington parties. This is all quite trenchant, and Tynan's face-off with a bigoted fellow senator is topical, but Alda's screenplay isn't really interested in the inner-workings of Capitol Hill. He's too anxious to get his character into bed with honey-voiced Meryl Streep (third-billed), who is shown to be a smart and savvy lady--though one who is just as unable to control her desires as Tynan. We don't learn much about the Streep character's situation, however the actress's sneaky, intricate force wheedles its way through and she just about walks off with the picture. Melvyn Douglas is surprisingly frittered away as an elder Senator, while Barbara Harris as Joe's wife isn't allowed to showcase her fringe assets (that dazed-and-dreamy voice coupled with the wobbly retorts). Alda is, of course, ideally cast for the lead, and his pained, sensitive expressions are contrasted quite well with his pent-up exasperation. The movie ultimately doesn't offer much because Alda can't stick with one scenario long enough for the picture to take-off as a whole. The film's overall design is dreadful, and director Jerry Schatzberg shows no style whatsoever, yet those little pinpoints scattered about show that not much has changed in Congress (nor in our country) in the last 31 years. ** from ****