Running Mates

I just watched this film tonight, quite coincidentally at the same time as the votes are being counted for the 2004 US presidential election.

The film concerns the political skullduggery involved in the nominating of a running mate for a Democratic presidential candidate played by an almost unrecognizable Tom Selleck. He is a bit of ladies' man inspiring unwavering devotion from his faithful followers and his legion of loved and discarded women who still work for him and believe in him even after the affair is done (could part of his character be modeled on that last charismatic Democrat president we ask ourselves?).

Laura Linney has a strong part as his clever campaign manager, Teri Hatcher a less showy part as a press secretary, and Faye Dunaway a very showy supporting part (the type of role she excels in these days) as the wife of a senator hoping to get a place on the ticket.

This is not a bad film and quite interesting for anyone interested in politics. It does not withstand comparison to the similar but superior "Primary Colors", but it is still not bad. The cast is good but the heartwarming ending is a little hokey for this hardened cynic.

TNT had been promoing this one since the winter primary season, so I expected something like a blockbuster. Fool me once . . . Actually, "Running Mates" has its likeable moments and it did close with an uplifting plot turn, though it was one you could see coming. The scenes came fast, which I thought worked, and the editing kept the story moving.

The disappointments were in the utter phony silliness of certain aspects of what was a crackling good presentation much of the time. For example, the character of the Texas VP hopeful; that style wouldn't have worked in a good movie or TV show 40 years ago. The four women all having something in common with Tom Selleck's Gov. Pryce was a forced issue and hard to believe -- and also unnecessary. The vice-presidential decision coming on the night of Selleck's acceptance speech was likewise fiction and likewise not necessary; just a cheap hook to keep viewers tuned in all the way to the final credits.

There were a lot of good vignettes, the real TV personalities gave the movie a newscast feel, and Selleck and Bob Gunton as the reluctant VP candidate were the best of a good cast. Overall, a slick production that was certainly watchable. But it seems to me if you're doing this kind of thing during a political convention and tying in so many real events, you'd want to make the entire movie as real as possible. The production/directorial decisions that deviated from that are hard to fathom.

I know it sounds corny but MATES, written by female scribe Claudia Salter, pulls out all the punches in letting you know this candidate, Magnum himself, is a man of dignity and pride. A man our country so desperately needs in our cynical, money grabbing world that is our society today. It's the Clinton aftermath and Pryce and his loyal campaign manager Lauren, (Laura Linney) who has wanted to be president herself ever since she was a child, is leading Pryce into a smooth victory using all the manipulating tasks and strategies that are most assuredly common place in today's elections. Including having Pryce's daughter run up to him while he is on camera for a `planned spontaneous emotional moment.'

This infuriates Mrs. Pryce (Nancy Travis) who tells the overzealous Lauren, `You are never to use my daughter again. She will not be a tool in your campaign agenda!' Meow! But something suggests these women have more in common than the concern of Governor Pryce. Lauren is also an ex-girlfriend of his, and so are his social secretary (Teri Hatcher) and one of his political chums (Faye Dunaway), who desperately wants Prcye to choose her husband (Robert Culp) as his VP. Apparently before Pryce devoted all his love to Mrs. Pryce he passed his love around generously.

RUNNING MATES, a TNT Original film, is good TV but without much controversy. Sure there is an established 'bad guy' (Bruce McGill) who would do anything to nab the job of vice president, it's quite clear he doesn't have a chance in hell of being president so why not the next best thing. But overall the film is consistently too nice. In one out of place scene Lauren has a dispute with Pryce and storms off to her hotel room and then, `knock-knock', she is suddenly surrounded by all his exes and his current wife. They all console her and then compare sex stories with Pryce, including his wife!? This comes out of no where when just minutes earlier the women didn't care for each other in the least. It seems to have been added only to fit the bill of having all these ladies (Travis, Dunaway, Hatcher, Linney) in a room together talking smut.

And just when you thought Pryce might turn out to be a sellout something remarkable happens right out of left field. No explanation is given as to why and a much needed previous scene to suggest his mind frame is non-existent. Instead we are left to read his mind and think, `He did it because it was the right thing to do, right?' But, then again, that's never stopped a politician before? So who knows!

This is a "Robert Kennedy" movie. It portrays things as they aren't and asks "Why not?"

Witty and topical, it reminds me of the somewhat superior "Barbarians at the Gate". It not "The Candidate" either, but it entertains effortlessly. If the ending is predictable, it is also emotionally satisfying.

The biggest surprise is the degree of language and nudity in a commercial cable movie. We get not one, but two lingering views of Teri Hatcher's backside. Even NYPD Blue hasn't shown this much skin for such long shots.

What I really liked was that this film is so different to the usual film fare. And I mean there were more female roles than male, and I am a male. It seems female actors have so many fewer parts to play and display their talents. Each of them was a real 3 dimentional player and added to the pleasure watching this film. This was not a dramatic film but a comedy with some serious moments and should be judged as such. Nancy Travis, Laura Linney and Teri Hatcher deserve to be seen more often before they have to take middle-age parts like Faye Dunaway. All in all I enjoyed this film.