Al Franken: God Spoke (2006)

Directors:

Nick Doob
Chris Hegedus

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Taking back America one laugh at a time.

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Talk Show | Politics

Cast

Al Franken	...	Himself
Franni Bryson	...	Herself
Billy Kimball	...	Himself
Ben Wikler	...	Himself
Tim Bradley	...	Himself - Team Franken
Ayo Griffin	...	Himself - Team Franken
Rob Mackey	...	Himself - Team Franken
Jim Norton	...	Himself - Team Franken
Chris Rosen	...	Himself - Team Franken
Kate Sullivan	...	Herself - Team Franken
Gabrielle Zuckerman	...	Herself - Team Franken
William J. Bennett	...	Himself (as Bill Bennett)
Neal Boortz	...	Himself
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tucker Carlson	...	Himself
Dick Cheney	...	Himself (as Vice President Dick Cheney)
Hillary Rodham Clinton	...	Herself (as Senator Hillary Clinton)
Evan Cohen	...	Himself
Norm Coleman	...	Himself
Ann Coulter	...	Herself
John Edwards	...	Himself (as Senator John Edwards)
Matthew Entenza	...	Himself (as Representative Matthew Entenza)
David Foster	...	Himself
Joe Franken	...	Himself
Phoebe Kunst Franken	...	Herself
Janeane Garofalo	...	Herself
Carl Ginsburg	...	Himself
David Goodfriend	...	Himself
Al Gore	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tipper Gore	...	Herself (archive footage)
C. Boyden Gray	...	Himself
Lloyd Grove	...	Himself
Sean Hannity	...	Himself
Karen Hughes	...	Herself
Brit Hume	...	Himself (archive footage)
Molly Ivins	...	Herself (as Molly Ivens)
Robert Kennedy Jr.	...	Himself (as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.)
Bob Kerrey	...	Himself (as Senator Bob Kerrey)
John Kerry	...	Himself (as Senator John Kerry)
Henry Kissinger	...	Himself
Jay Leno	...	Himself
Rush Limbaugh	...	Himself (archive footage)
Michael Medved	...	Himself
Zell Miller	...	Himself (archive footage)
Walter Mondale	...	Himself (as Vice President Walter Mondale)
Michael Moore	...	Himself
Bill O'Reilly	...	Himself
Steve Roberts	...	Himself
Pat Schroeder	...	Herself (as Representative Pat Schroeder)
Steven Schumer	...	Himself
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Himself (as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Mark Shanahan	...	Himself
William Safire	...	Himself
Alan Simpson	...	Himself
Jon Sinton	...	Himself
Suzy Vasillov	...	Herself
Mark Walsh	...	Himself
Lally Weymouth	...	Herself
Nick Weicker	...	Himself
Paul Wellstone	...	Himself
Sheila Wellstone	...	Herself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Katherine Lanpher	...	Herself
Terry McAuliffe	...	Himself
Jon Stewart	...	Himself

Directed by
Nick Doob
Chris Hegedus

Produced by
Wendy Ettinger	....	consulting producer
Walker Lamond	....	associate producer
Rebecca Marshall	....	producer
D.A. Pennebaker	....	executive producer
Frazer Pennebaker	....	producer

Original Music by
Ed Smart

Film Editing by
Nick Doob
Chris Hegedus

Sound Department
Paul Furedi	....	sound mixer
Nick Foley	....	adr recordist (uncredited)
Ted Swanscott	....	adr mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Nick Doob	....	camera operator
Chris Hegedus	....	camera operator
Walker Lamond	....	additional camera operator
Rebecca Marshall	....	additional camera operator

Editorial Department
Mike Maguire	....	colorist (as Michael Maguire)
Larry Schmitt	....	on-line editor

Other crew
Nate Allard	....	assistant: Al Franken
Jane Balfour	....	foreign sales
Casey Boyd	....	assistant: Al Franken
Cathy Carapella	....	clearances
Karen Shatzkin	....	legal services

Thanks
Andy Elias	....	thanks
Joe Franken	....	thanks
Owen Franken	....	thanks
Thomasin Franken	....	thanks
Francesca Gage	....	thanks
Maya Handelsman	....	thanks
Michael Harrison	....	thanks
Lisa Johnson	....	thanks
Kit Pennebaker	....	thanks
Adam Pincus	....	thanks
Ellen Ratner	....	thanks
Bingham Ray	....	thanks
David Rose	....	thanks
Nigel Sinclair	....	thanks
Pamela Stewart	....	thanks
Philip M. Strub	....	thanks (as Phil Strub)
Richard Sugarman	....	thanks
Mark Wills	....	thanks
Jeff Zeiger	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Pennebaker Hegedus Films
• Nick Doob Productions
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (in association with)

Distributors

• Balcony Releasing (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Docurama (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Pennebaker Hegedus Films

It plays well in Minnesota

I have to start this comment by saying that I am a very liberal Minnesotan. I cried when Paul Wellstone died and I teared up when Bush won a second term. That being said, I really liked this film. For a movie about a hard-core liberal, it is amazingly balanced. With clips of Al from his SNL days and jokes made during fund-raising speeches, it was as funny as it was political. It follows Franken during the formation of his radio show on Air American through the '04 election. The only unfortunate part is that the politics seem to play better in downtown Minneapolis than they would in, say, Dallas. Minnesota is a Democratic stronghold and has been for years. Part of the film focuses on Franken's friendship with Paul Wellstone and his dislike of the man who took his Senate seat, Norm Coleman. People from other states may not know these names or how deeply the impact the people of this state. While one (Coleman) used to campaign for the other(Wellstone), they ended up being on opposite ends of the political spectrum by the time that they became competitors. It is insights like this that make some jokes funny and some comments astute. This film does not try to sway the audience, it simply presents the political world from Al's point of view. The passion he displays during his speeches and radio shows is amazing. He is one of the few people that obviously believe in what he is saying with every fiber of his being. Even if you don't believe in what he is saying, you have to respect the force and vigor with which he says it.