Summary - Barely OK 2.0

In the mockumentary Death of a President, reality becomes blurred with fiction, as George W. Bush is "assassinated.”

Played out as a pseudo-documentary that you may see on the History Channel, the movie integrates real film clips with staged scenes and fake interviews with actors portraying public officials. The real appeal of the film isn’t the subject matter, for I obviously would strongly object to ANY attack on a public official, even if I don’t share their political viewpoints. Rather, the slick editing that creates a seamless integration between real footage and staged scenes makes this film oddly appealing. The whole “what-if” premise seems to play out, as one would expect, with eerie similarities to Kennedy, and the rush to judgment, fueled by an insatiable appetite of the press.

Sadly, beyond the trick editing, the movie didn’t do much more for me. Perhaps we’re so accustomed to seeing events like that play out in real life, such as the recent attack on Gabrielle Giffords, or even Ronald Regan in the 80s. The media, government, and general public seem to always follow the same response patterns in each case, which is exactly what is shown in this film.

So, all in all, I found the crafty editing interesting, and somewhat haunting and a bit scary. Especially seeing Dick Chaney sworn in as the next President. However, the rest of the film did not overly impress me.

Acting - OK 2.5

The actors used to portray “Officials” in the interviews were ok, but not really spectacular.

Film - OK 2.5

I’ll give props to the filmmakers for creating something that seems real. But I’m not sure what the overall message was intended to be.

Edge - Risqué 1.6

No sex or nudity. Obviously an assassination, plus some scuffling and beatings of protestors, and images of war and explosions in Iraq.

Reality - Surreal 2.3

It’s a fake story, using real footage. Hard to judge here.

2 Comments

• BigdaddyDave Apr 27, 2011 7:12AM

  I agree. This is an odd movie that seems to have been made to show off editing tricks. Either that, or there really are some sick people in this world who would consider the killing of a president entertainment.

• Wick Apr 26, 2011 10:51PM

  Regarding BigdaddyDave’s Review
  I recall this movie receiving relatively little attention when it came out. Imagine if it was remade today positing the assassination of President Obama. The media outrage would be tsunami-like.

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