The Mondavi Gang

The politically inspired film is certainly alive and well. Take The Mondavi Gang, a new short film dealing with the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign. Documenting a conversation between close friends where politics becomes a fiery dinnertime subject, the film is a remarkable depiction of politics as they register in everyday people, not the media talking heads who typically lost their minds. The film is brilliant and a blessing. When one thinks about it, it's also wonderfully subtle, because it formulates a round table critique of the candidates without being boringly or boorishly partisan. We get dissections of all the candidates and x-rays of their supporters' passions. David Morwick is especially excellent as the Hilary Clinton advocate. One feels not only entertained but instructed by his point-by-point assessment.

However, neither his character nor any of the others seem didactic to the viewer; to each other, however, they can be hilariously pedantic. The ensemble cast is uniformly strong. This is the kind of film to alleviate the doldrums of Hollywood visions of presidential derring-do and dirty tricksaroo. Here is (finally!) some intelligent cinema which helps this viewer, this citizen, understand a little more about the different people with whom he shares this vast, confusing land. Bravo, The Mondavi Gang!