Oscar-winner Demme arranged to film Jimmy Carter nonstop, wake-up-till-bedtime (excluding bathroom breaks, thank God), during the promotional tour for his provocatively titled book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Demme takes a fly-on-the-wall, verité approach, with no interviews and only rare acknowledgment of the camera. He has intercut the resulting footage with historical material to create a sketchy biographical portrait and, more prominently, a snapshot of an 82-year-old man venturing forth to face those who regard even the name of his book to be anti-Israel and possibly anti-Semitic. The portrait is almost wholly positive, with Carter’s worst trait appearing to be justifiable impatience: On the one hand, Carter had no say in the cutting of the film (which arguably could have been cut to less than its current two-hour running time); on the other hand, he was well-aware he was being filmed and doubtless put on his best face.
Is the general benevolence the film conveys convincing? Well, yes, and there’s little in Carter’s public record to contradict it. Even those who find him wrongheaded on the Israel/Palestine conflict would presumably agree that he has used his post-presidential years trying to do what he perceives as good. Contrast instead the petty, greedy plans of our current leader to go out and “refill the coffers,” notwithstanding his access to the Bush family gazillions. Indeed, it’s impossible to watch Man from Plains without marveling at the contrast: Remember the days when presidents, even if they were evil f--kers like Nixon, were reasonably articulate and informed? Sometimes even really, really smart? Carter has been reviled mercilessly by the right for being insufficiently Neanderthal, and the catastrophe of recent years shows where their ideas lead.
Jimmy Carter Man From Plains
***1/2
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Rated PG
Opens Friday