Death Of A President

Back in July our local movie store had an out of business blowout sale, so Crystal and I decided to check it out.  It was pretty much picked over, and we almost left empty-handed.  I say almost because I managed to pick up one movie; Death Of A President.

I had heard a lot about the movie when it premiered at TIFF in 2006.  It's a mockumentary about the assassination of George W. Bush, on 19 October 2007 in Chicago, Illinois.  As you would expect, it had its share of critics who hated the idea, while others thought it was quite clever.  As with other controversial movies (DaVinci Code, Passion Of The Christ, Fahrenheit 9/11) the controversy just made me want to see it even more.

It sat on my DVD shelf, untouched until today.  I decided that I had 2 hrs to kill, I'll watch it.  It was a good flick.  I don't want to give too much away, but I was impressed with their use of actual news footage.  They worked in footage of Bush shaking hands, speaking and getting prepped for an event.  They also used footage of Dick Cheney from Reagan's assassination attempt, and used it in a way that made this fake documentary feel real.

Maybe it's because I'm not an American, but I enjoyed the film.  The fact that the film was made while Bush was still in office does make it a little weird, but I didn't think it was done in poor taste. 

I wonder if the same film was made about President Obama, would the reaction be different?

It's a good flick.  Check it out.