The Candidate

THE CANDIDATE (PG)

D: Michael Ritchie

Warner Bros. (Walter Coblenz)

USA 🇺🇸 1972

110 mins

Comedy/Political

W: Jeremy Larner

DP: Victor J. Kemper

Ed: Robert Estrin & Richard A. Harris

Mus: John Rubinstein

Robert Redford (Bill McKay), Peter Boyle (Luck), Don Porter (Sen. Crocker Jarmon), Allen Garfield (Howard Klein), Karen Carlson (Nancy McKay), Quinn Redeker (Rich Jenkin), Morgan Upton (Henderson), Melvyn Douglas (John J. McKay)

I might have enjoyed this more if I had any interest at all in American Politics, but the simple truth is, I do not. I'm from the UK and I've spent enough time getting my head around the way our government operates, but enough about that before this review turns into a rant.

Back from my digression, the film is a well-produced and astutely written political comedy about a young, liberal civil rights lawyer (Robert Redford), who is convinced to run for an upcoming campaign for senator. He wins the hearts of the Californian people by tailoring to the needs that matter to them and finds the going much tougher than he originally thought.

Perhaps you have to be an American to truly appreciate this movie, which plays off like a Capraesque fable for the 1970's. It just didn't really do anything for me.

6/10