It’ll be interesting to see what people think of “Game Change,” assuming of course that they can get past their own political prejudices to watch it. We have long since made up our minds about the former Vice Presidential candidate and are either for or against her, but this HBO movie offers a more intimate look at her that you won’t find on any episode of “Saturday Night Live.” But even then, the movie is not all about her and deals more specifically with how people are selected to become national leaders. While you may think it’s the Presidential candidate who makes this final decision, that doesn’t always prove to be the case.
“Game Change” opens with a scene from a “60 Minutes” interview Cooper Anderson does with John McCain’s chief campaign strategist Steve Schmidt (Woody Harrelson) after the campaign has ended in which he asks Schmidt if he regretted choosing Palin as McCain’s running mate. The look on his face is perplexing as if he wants to say yes or is maybe instead looking for a better away to answer the question so it will seem more thoughtful. Either way we don’t find out his answer till the movie’s end, but we wonder about that question throughout.
Schmidt is seen as reluctant to join McCain’s campaign for President of the United States, but his respect for the Senator from Arizona eventually makes him a chief participant. But after McCain wins the Republican nomination, a bigger problem looms; the politicians he is thinking of selecting for his running mate won’t help him overcome the excitement Americans have for Barack Obama. This leads his political advisers Rick Davis (Peter MacNicol) and Mark Salter (Jamey Sheridan) to suggest Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin who they see as a “game changer.” Even though she has not been in office for very long, they believe that choosing Palin will enhance McCain’s image as a political maverick. Sure enough, Palin energizes his campaign in a way few others could with her strong presence and conviction of purpose. But when it comes to world and political affairs, that’s where everyone comes to develop a severe case of anxiety (including Palin herself).
Now I know Plain herself has made it clear that she has absolutely no interest in watching “Game Change,” but she is actually portrayed here with a lot of empathy. As played by Julianne Moore, Palin is sincere in her efforts in wanting to help McCain win the Presidency and is shown to be a loving mother and wife. Upon being introduced to the world as “the next Vice President of the United States,” Palin becomes overwhelmed with the negative press thrown in her direction to where she’s not sure how to deal with it. There are scenes where she watches helplessly as Tina Fey does her on “Saturday Night Live,” and you can’t help but feel for her even if it made for some great comedy on that show.
Speaking of Tina Fey, after watching her do a practically flawless and priceless imitation of Palin, it seemed insane for anyone else to try and play the former vice-presidential candidate either in a movie or a skit (did you see Andy Samberg try to do it?). But Moore never stoops to impersonating Palin but instead inhabits her does so brilliantly. The whole time we watch Moore in “Game Change,” we never get the sense that she is acting but instead searching for what drives Palin in this political race and in her life. I really felt like I was watching Palin in the movie and not Moore as she seems to just float away and has let the former Governor of Alaska take her over.
As the campaign rolls on, we see her rebelling against her advisers who keep telling her what to say, do, and wear. While part of us wants her to really listen to those in the campaign who’ve been through this kind of thing before, you can’t help but admire her for not wanting to put on an act for the American people. Deep down, we really don’t want to see our politicians put on an act for us as we always feel that we can see right through it. Would you be ever so willing to compromise the things you believe in just to win political office?
Harrelson is on a roll right now with his critically acclaimed performance in “Rampart,” and I love how he embodies Schmidt, a man who’s trying his best to handle a delicate situation that threatens to implode each and every day. Here’s a guy who thinks he can handle any problem thrown at him but ends up being confronted by one he cannot control. Seeing those eyes stare like daggers at Palin when she goes “rogue” is an unforgettable image as he eventually makes clear that this is McCain’s show more than hers.
Ed Harris doesn’t really look or sound much like John McCain, but that doesn’t matter here. What he does accomplish is making McCain seem like an honorable politician trying to run a campaign that is not full of nastiness like the one George W. Bush’s people ran against him in 2000. Seeing his grimace when his supporters start hating on Obama more intensely, calling him an “Arab” or a “communist,” is a painful sight as he realizes that this is not the kind of race he ever wanted to be a part of. Harris is an actor who always delivers the goods, and he certainly doesn’t fail us here.
One performance that stands out in particular here is Sarah Paulson’s as McCain adviser Nicole Wallace. Paulson gives her role a wonderful complexity as her sincere dedication to McCain’s campaign is severely tested by her utter resentment of Palin that we can constantly see is reaching its boiling point. As much as Wallace wants to help Palin do her best in debates and interviews, you can see in her eyes that she is thinking “is this the best we can come up with?” Also, Paulson looks a lot like Monica Potter, and I want to make sure we can tell the difference between the two in the future.
“Game Change” was directed by Jay Roach who also directed the superb HBO movie “Recount” which documented the voting debacle over the 2000 Presidential election between Bush and Gore. As with that one, he attempts to make “Game Change” a balanced look at a politician and campaign that we feel we know everything about already. Whether or not he has succeeded here is hard to tell because America is as politically divisive as it has ever been, and many people have been vocal with their criticisms even before they bothered watching this movie.
What Roach does great here is show us history as if it were unfolding right in front of us. We all know the outcome of this election, but we still cringe when Palin makes mistakes like on the Katie Couric interview. Even if she didn’t have our support during the general election, seeing her suffer through a process that really proves to be beyond anyone’s control is painful, and we want to see her overcome obstacles most people don’t get to experience. Regardless of what it is we’re watching we always find ourselves rooting for the underdog. As “Game Change” comes to an end, Roach keeps us on the edge of our seats as we wonder what Palin has up her sleeve next as she has long since proven that she is nobody’s puppet.
Is “Game Change” accurate to what actually happened? I guess it depends on who you ask; Palin and McCain have described it as inaccurate and based on a false narrative while Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace have said that it tells the truth and capturing the spirit of the campaign. When all is said and done though, I’m not sure I care if it is because most movies “based on a true story” are not and really can’t be for dramatic purposes. In the end all we can do is hope for a compelling motion picture that holds our attention throughout, and “Game Change” is certainly that.
Palin should at least be happy that, on top of being given a brilliant and respectful portrayal by Julianne Moore, she does not come off as the bad guy here. It’s really her political handlers who come off looking bad by throwing a barely tested Governor into a political minefield that is unforgiving and endlessly vicious. Long before the election ends, they see that their thirst for victory has overcome their better judgment as they picked a celebrity more than a true candidate. This brings me to scariest thing “Game Change” reveals though which is a truth that many of us don’t want to see: that these days the news is nothing more than “entertainment.”
* * * ½ out of * * * *
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