"electile dysfunction" (
if you're a real political junky, you won't learn much from this film. but it does put things all together in a nice little package. what the film doesn't do is explore the particularities of the santorum-casey race. there is very little about who rick santorum is in the documentary and there is even less about bob casey. instead, the race is a framing device of the film. the filmmakers use the campaign to raise the various problems with modern campaigning. in the Q and A after the show the filmmakers explained that they originally perceived their film to be a film about the casey-santorum race, but later dropped the idea because neither candidate turned out to all that compelling. personally, i think that santorum could be a very compelling character for a documentary, how could someone that extreme not be? but bob casey is as bland as you get. i certainly understand why they paid so little attention to him. a lot of documentaries start with one idea and turn into something else. i just wonder if the remaining casey-santorum stuff really added much to the film.
on a personal level, this was a documentary that i could have been in. two years ago i mentioned that i was interviewed by a documentary film crew while attending an anti-santorum event. going into the film, i wondered if this was that documentary. back when i was interviewed, the filmmakers took my email address and said they would email me if i made it into the film. i didn't get an email, so i didn't expect to be on the screen. but it definitely was the same film crew. there were scenes early in the film that were taken at the very same party where i was interviewed (and there was only one film crew at the party). a few of my friends did get into the film, including my friend hydromuse (who occasionally reads this site). congratulations hydro!
