Anytown, USA

This is a remarkable documentary. Think of a mix between "The War Room" and "Roger & Me." The characters we meet are so extraordinary that it would be hard to make them up. We are used to seeing statewide and national hardball politics, but at the municipal level all the slickness and professionalism is gone and rank self-interest rules.

The film is well directed and the pace of the story keeps moving you along.

Underneath the gritty story of local politics, there is a heartbreaking story that gives the film an emotional impact far beyond the purely political. Absolutely worth finding this film and seeing it. Go find it!

Anytown, USA is a documentary about a small town election which is American politics in a microcosm. The candidates are creepy neo-conservative mayor who wants to cut services including the local high school, the boring middle of the road Democrat who doesn't even seem to try and the blind cancer survivor running as a third candidate. There's some dirty tricks including the Republicans publishing a "newspaper" which is pretty much the small town equivalent of FOX News. There's some other dirty tricks on the other side, including rumours about the Democratic candidate's failing health.

All in all, it's a pretty good light documentary. Not really a documentary about an issue but more about people and the chaotic, delinquent American political system which continues to fail people.

This is a great little film. Should win even more awards.I'm not sure if I have ever seen a film that delivers just what it promises, but this doc may be close. The film has humor, pathos, tragedy and suspense. What more could you ask? I'm not a film-maker, but the art of a film such as this must be in the editing and photography, the production skills. With no script,and the "actors" not taking direction, the story has to be carved out of single block of granite. If you miss a shot, a scene that changes or adds to the story, you have no way to get it back. You get whatever you get and there ain't no more.I found myself beginning to take sides in this political war and angry at some of the characters. I really didn't expect to be this engrossed. I'm an author (Nam-A-Rama) and I can't quite imagine being given the scenes, the characters, and the words and told to 'make a good story out of this.' I hope these guys go on to make more and bigger films.

A manipulative documentary that does everything it can to dishonestly frame Lonegan as a "bad guy" which he is not. While Democrats show there true colors by vandalizing Lonegan signs and Musikant by spreading rumors about his opponents. Only emotional thinkers will fall for the pity politics of Dave Musikant. While I am sure that Dave is a nice guy, being "nice" is not a plan to run a town. Musikant and Pesce have no message except that they are not Lonegan. While Lonegan's biggest crime is trying to reduce the property taxes of Bogota, NJ. Again, emotional thinkers cannot connect the dots between school funding and property taxes. To them these things are apparently funded by "magic" money. It is tragic that Dave lost his life to cancer but again an illness should never be a reason to vote for someone in politics which is the true lesson here. Lonegan has legitimate plans to reduce property taxes and streamline government, those who are intellectually honest and can get past there emotions would be wise to consider them.

You couldn't cast this film with actors and capture the true banality and raw pathos of small town politics as this documentary does. The director here does an excellent job of storytelling in recording the efforts of a rank outsider who runs on little other than chutzpah and sheer enthusiasm against an apparently justifiably despised incumbent mayor. The twists and turns of the campaign mirror the improbable feats of the local high school football team who go on their own miraculous underdog run. But the film's true value lies in its ability to show the nastiness that politics brings out in people and democracy's capacity for excitement and frustration. An excellent story, told in an unadorned fashion, well worth a look.