"Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains" is not a biography of the 39th President of the United States; nor is it a chronicle of his time as President, or even of his work with Habitat for Humanities, though both are touched upon in the course of the film. Rather it is a documentary account of a national book tour Carter conducted in late 2006 to promote his controversial and provocatively entitled tome, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." Carter basically gives two reasons why he felt compelled to write the book: 1) the fact that there had been no peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the then- five or six years of the Bush administration, and 2) what he sees as the unfair treatment of the Palestinians who live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Anyone daring (or foolish) enough to venture into this minefield of a topic risks detonating intense passions on both sides of the conflict, but Carter's history and reputation as a peacemaker between the two aggrieved parties would appear to give him some cover on the issue. Well, not exactly, for we see many, mostly pro-Israeli groups and individuals, protesting and challenging him as he travels around the country providing interviews on this hyper-sensitive subject.
As a movie, "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains" is no more than serviceable, even though it comes with an impressive pedigree, namely Jonathan Demme for a director. It is obviously sympathetic to Carter's position and it nicely illustrates the basic decency and humanity of a man who has hit the pinnacle of power yet still manages to remain true to the small town values of humility and service on which he was raised. But it's also unimaginative and redundant and probably isn't going to do much to assuage the concerns of those who hold opposing views to his.
It's worth seeing for its historical significance though.
