Saturday Night at the Movies
All about (election) eve
By Dennis Hartley
If you’re like me (and isn’t everybody?) you’ve either mailed your ballot already or made up your mind, so you’ve just about had it up to “here” with the endless campaign ads and the polling and ever-escalating gnashing of teeth. However, being a glutton for punishment (and applying the inoculation theory), I’ve found that one of the best therapies for getting through the final several days of pins and needles before Election Tuesday is to dust off a few of my favorite election-themed movies and give them a spin.
For movies that delve into the art of the campaign, I’d be partial to screening The Candidate
, Primary Colors
, or the brilliant doc, The War Room 
. For the “election flick as paranoid political thriller”, how about The Contender
or the original 1962 version of The Manchurian Candidate
?(From the latter film, Sinatra’s classic line “Doc, that was one swinger of a nightmare!” kind of summarizes campaign 2012 for me). If you’re in the mood for biting election satire, it doesn’t get any better than Great Mcginty , The Best Man
, Bob Roberts, Wag the Dog
, Bulworth
, or Robert Altman’s cable mini-series, Tanner '88 
For sly political allegory, Election
definitely tops my list. And although it has a more tangential election theme (election night 1968 serves as a backdrop for a substantial portion of the film) any excuse to revisit Hal Ashby’s Shampoo
gets my vote.
Strangely enough, I think my all-time favorite election night film is one that has nothing to do with American politics: Don's Party
, a worthwhile sleeper from Australia. Breaker Morant director Bruce Beresford folds in one part Shampoo, one part Return of the Secaucus 7 and sprinkles liberally with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 
The story is set on Australia’s election night, 1969. Our outgoing host Don and his uptight wife are hosting an "election party" for old college chums at their solidly middle-class suburban home. Most of the party guests range from the recently divorced to the unhappily married. Ostensibly gathering to watch election results, talk politics and socialize, Don's party deteriorates into a veritable primer on bad human behavior as the booze kicks in. By the end of the night, marriages are on the rocks, friendships nearly broken and guests are skinny dipping in the vacationing neighbor's pool. Yet, this is not just another wacky party film. It offers keen observations about mid-life crisis, elitism, politics, and adult relationships along the way. It’s savagely funny, brilliantly written and splendidly acted.
Previous posts with related themes:
Grassroots
The Ides of March/The Politician’s Wife
Swing Vote
W
Frost/Nixon
Saturday Night at the Movies archives
