The Candidate starring Robert
Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn
Douglas, Don Porter, Allen Garfield
Excellent Political Flick
Michael Ritchies 1972 drama about a political idealist (Robert Redford)
recruited to make a run for the Senate is still engrossing and still a terribly
accurate reflection of the contemporary campaign process. In one of his
trademark roles as a man haunted by some shadow of inauthenticity (see
Downhill Racer, The Natural, The Great Gatsby, Sneakers, and such),
Redford is superb as a first-time candidate watching his values and control
over his message disappear in the age of TV-friendly prefabrication. Peter
Boyle is ideal as his clearheaded campaign manager, Allen Garfield is
effectively creepy as a media strategist, and Melvyn Douglas makes a
memorable appearance as a retired politico whose endorsement is gold.
Highly recommended. The DVD release includes production notes,
theatrical trailer, Dolby sound, and optional Spanish, French, and English
subtitles. --Tom Keogh

Personal Review: The Candidate starring Robert Redford, Peter
Boyle, Melvyn Douglas, Don Porter, Allen Garfield
Robert Redford was behind the entertaining political movie "The
Candidate" (1972), which goes a long way towards explaining how the
game works. This film is really not a liberal one, which is what makes it
worthwhile even after 30 years. It is supposed to be based on Edmund
"Jerry" Brown, former California Governor Pat Brown's son. Jerry Brown at
the time was a youthful Secretary of State who would go one to two terms
as Governor. He was a new kind of pol, attractive, a bit of swinger who
dated rock star Linda Rohnstadt, and representative of the Golden State
image of the 1970s. They called him "Governor Moonbeam".
Redford plays the son of the former Governor of California, played by
Melvyn Douglas. The old man is old school all the way, having schmoozed
his way up the slippery slope through implied corrupt deals with labor
unions and other Democrat special interests. Redford is a young man who
played football at Stanford and is now a social issues lawyer of the pro
bono variety, helping Mexicans in Central California. Peter Boyle knew him
at Stanford and is now a Democrat political consultant who recruits
Redford to run for Senator against Crocker Jarman, an entrenched
conservative Orange County Republican. Jarman could be Reagan, but he
is as much a composite of the traditional Republican: Strong on defense,
down on affirmative action and welfare, a real "up by the bootstraps" guy
who emerged from the Depression and World War II to make up our
"greatest generation."
The film does an about-face on perceptions that, in many cases, turn out to
be true. Redford is the rich kid with connections. Jarman beat the
Depression like the rest of the U.S., without a social worker.
"How did we do it?" he mocks.
Redford's film wife is played by Karen Carlson, pure eye candy (but what
happened to her career I cannot say?). She has ambitions of her own, and
pushes him to do it because he has the "power," an undefined sexual
charisma of the JFK variety. Redford plays a caricature of himself,
handsome but considered an empty suit. His deal is he can say any
outrageous thing because he cannot win anyway, and in so doing shows
he has the brains. When he creeps up in the polls, the idealism gives way
to standard politicking, complete with deals with his old man's crooked
labor buddies. He wins, demonstrating the power of looks and TV
advertising. In the end he expresses that he is not prepared for the task.
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