Mayor Pete

Sure, it felt like an extended campaign commercial, but it's hard not to like and admire Pete Buttigieg and his devoted husband Chasen after watching this 2021 documentary, which tracks his trajectory through the Big Tuesday primaries. Tough moments are captured intact like his confrontational South Bend town hall after the officer shooting. His resilience and even demeanor were put to the test when he posed a real threat to the other Democratic candidates. It made me wonder if he could be Biden's successor or if he's tough enough to put Kamala on the defensive.

I wont go into Pete the politician this should be about the movie. It seems that this whole movie seems more like a campaign ad. Alot of clips are about his homosexuality and how he fought the good "fight" against the horrible Trump. Even when he is shown being criticized he looks thoughtful and like the white gay savior. He says he came back to south bend because people leave there but it seems like the whole film he is absolutely trying to leave south bend behind. And he did coming into the Biden administration. He is obviously very smart and talented but It seems the only ones that like him are rich older liberal white people. He could be president or flame out and be forgotten one thing before the facts were out of the shooting in south bend he was saying it was systematic racism and police white supremacy.

Unlike the standard documentary type about a political campaign, with competitors set up as enemies and the set-up seeming to make this a campaigning vehicle, this film takes the audience into the realm of relationships between the candidate and his spouse, his campaign team, and the internal questions and conflicts. I found this much more satisfying and insightful than documentaries that treat campaigns as if they were major league sports events. I came away from this with even greater respect for the main figures. Now I would like to see the other films by this producer/ director/ writer team, too.

As "Mayor Pete" (2021 release; 97 min.) opens, we are introduced to the mayor of South Bend, IN, Pete Buttigieg. We are at "One Year Before the Iowa Caucus" and Pete is a complete unknown outside of his home town, recently married to his boyfriend, and yet thriving in that conservative environment. Nobody has ever made the leap from mayor to President of this country, but Pete decides to give it a go... At this point we are 10 min into the film.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from writer-producer-director Jesse moss ("The Overnighters"). Here he is given seemingly unfettered access to the Pete Buttigieg 2019-20 presidential campaign. Just think of this: 15-16 months worth of filming is reduced to its very essence of a mere hour and a half, but it is more than enough to give us the inside scoop of what Mayor Pete stands for and how he went about his campaign. Spoiler: Pete did not win! This is the true measure of a great documentary: we know the outcome beforehand, yet I was transfixed from start to finish. Check out the scene in New York when Pete meets with Rev. Al Sharpton in front of an overwhelming press corps, yet keeping his cool as he gains bigger national attention day by day. The movie doesn't shy away from the fact that Pete is a married gay man who faces questions like "Do you think America is ready for someone like you?" on a daily basis. Just watch how Pete handles it. As for the 1 and 2 star reviews on here: I can guarantee that none of them have seen the documentary, and hence of course don't post a single comment about the documentary itself. All they can say is what their political believes are and that the film is "trash" and "propaganda". Those are the same people who have zero problem supporting a guy who literally tried to stage a coup and overthrow the US government on January 6, all because he didn't like the election results. For shame.

"Mayor Pete" premiered last month at the Chicago film festival to good buzz. It's now airing on Amazon Prime (where I caught it) and also available on Amazon Instant Video. If you are into politics (regardless of which party you support), I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

While it may not be the greatest documentary by any standard. It's a pretty objective and entertaining look at secretary Pete's presidential campaign and these 1 star attack reviews are just from homophobic conservatives.