The Hunting of the President (2004)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Directors:

Nickolas Perry
Harry Thomason

Writers:

Joe Conason (book)
Gene Lyons (book)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

The ten-year campaign to destroy Bill Clinton.

Plot:

Previously unreleased material outlines the campaign against Bill Clinton's presidency, from his days in Arkansas up to his impeachment trial. |

Plot Keywords:

Impeachment | Interview | Scandal | Archive Footage | Media

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Morgan Freeman	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Begala	...	Himself
Sidney Blumenthal	...	Himself
David Brock	...	Himself
John Camp	...	Himself
James Carville	...	Himself
Larry Case	...	Himself
Bill Clinton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hillary Rodham Clinton	...	Herself (archive footage)
Joe Conason	...	Himself
Andrew Cooper	...	Himself
Jerry Falwell	...	Himself
Paula Jones	...	Herself (archive footage)
Howard Kurtz	...	Himself
Gene Lyons	...	Himself
Jim McDougal	...	Himself (archive footage)
Susan McDougal	...	Herself
Dan Moldea	...	Himself
Larry Nichols	...	Himself (archive footage)
Claudia Riley	...	Herself
Ken Starr	...	Himself (archive footage)
Betsy Wright	...	Herself

Runtime:

USA:90 min | Australia:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15

Company:

Diceburg LLC

Quotes:

Andrew Cooper: Whether it was true whether it was false, they would use anything they could get to discredit him and undermine him. They really wanted to undermine his Presidency. He was sort of obsessed with the sex angle. The sex angle really got Everett excited.

Too Much to Cover in 90 Minutes

Another in a series of recent political documentaries that started with "Fahrenheit 911" and whose end does not seem to be in sight, "The Hunting of the President" is the least successful so far. While the film does have its moments, especially those that detail the brutalizing of Susan McDougal, the filmmakers try to squeeze too much into the short running time. Comments, images, and events flash by, especially towards the beginning, and left this viewer a bit confused. The clips from old movies, which I assume were for comic effect, could have been omitted as they only added to the clutter. Perhaps someone who has read the book would be able to follow the portrayed events better than someone who has to rely on their memory of newscasts from the period. While the film is definitely worth watching if for nothing else than as a history review, the talk given by President Clinton at the film's premiere, which is included on the DVD, is a concise and masterful lecture on political trends in American history and is more engrossing than much of the documentary. Mr. Clinton easily could pursue yet another successful career as a history professor