Justin R
History isn't kind to presidential losers, but this a surprisingly warm and human portrait. The documentary focuses less on the political machinations of the campaign and more on the man and his relationship with his family. Romney certainly comes across as a good man with a loving and caring family. One wonders how many outcomes might be different if we could see all major candidates in such a way before an election. It's a good political documentary - not the best but definitely an interesting watch for political anoraks although lacking in broader appeal given that it was an unsuccessful campaign.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/21/21
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Audience Member
This is going to be a hard review to conduct because I do not have quite a lot of experience reviewing documentaries, so bear with me. With the current presidential election going on between Clinton and Trump, I decided to give "Mitt" a shot. Now I haven't been active in politics for very long. Only since the most recent Canadian election did I start to take an interest in politics. So I did not watch any of the race for president in 2012. What I can say is that Mitt Romney, just based on this film alone, might have received my vote if I were an American voting in that election. I know I haven't carefully looked at both parties but what this film shows is a man who is determined and has a great love for the United States. I like seeing a president act around his family and friends without any of the major cameras on him. He complains about John McCain and the debate structure, he complains how the media takes what he says and reports it out of context. He seems like a human being. Not some perfectly groomed television prop. Overall, if you are interested in American politics and don't mind a documentary style story, then give this one a shot. You may see the side to a presidential candidate you've never seen before.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
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Audience Member
A well put together documentary that humanizes candidates beyond their image and shows the stress a presidential campaign puts on a family.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/16/23
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Audience Member
9/5/16 Netflix
A documentary that shows the man more than the candidate. It stays away from the wonky, inside politics story line that shows handlers, pollsters, strategist and others and just focuses on the Romney family and the pressure a campaign brings. It also shows ho w the media can portay a person in a much different light than they really are.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
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Audience Member
More about the wear and tear of a candidate running for President and their family, than politics itself. This did a fair job of doing that and shined a fairly honest was a balanced view of both Mitt the man as well as candidate. It neither endorses any qualities he may have had for Presidency, nor does it villainize him in any way.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/12/23
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Audience Member
Though it's chronicling years of recent Republican political history, Mitt is a mostly apolitical film, and certainly, the lessons one takes away from the film (which is available to stream on Netflix) have nothing to do with your choice of party. On a very basic level, it tries to humanize a man who so often seemed robotic during the 2012 election cycle. When viewed through that prism, Mitt is moderately (as opposed, I guess, to "severely") successful. It's also a tad mundane. More interesting is the way director Greg Whiteley captures something truly depressing about politics: Romney never seemed human because that's not politics on a national level.
The film begins with a sobering question: "What do you say in a concession speech?" Romney, just seconds after learning he's the losing presidential candidate, looks around the room at his family and closest advisors. They're at a loss.
Jump back to 2006, and things are simpler for this large, wealthy, happy, good clan of people. Romney is playing in the snow with his grandchildren, but after they're all tucked into their beds, the conversation becomes serious. Everyone-Mitt, wife Ann, their five sons, and their sons's wives-goes around the room weighing the pros and cons of a Romney '08 campaign. It's a reasonable conversation among people who love each other, and they end up finding common ground pretty easily: a run for president would be brutal, being president would be brutal, but shouldn't you, Mitt, at least give it a shot?
The rest, of course, you know. He does, and it goes...OK. He loses, but as he tells his family before officially conceding, at least he's built a brand, and if he goes for it again in 2012 (which is family is adamant he doesn't), he'll be a known quantity.
Up to the point at which Mitt jumps four years ahead to the 2012 general election, it's rather compelling. It's interesting to see someone so familiar in such a new, unaffected light, and Romney's insight into his own candidacy and his inability to successfully control his image. But in skipping the decision to run again (the family presumably didn't want cameras following them after their run), the Republican primaries, and all the lovely little details in between, Whiteley condemns almost half his film to being little more than a Cliff's Notes version of political events so recent there hasn't been enough time to give them historical weight. Yes, it's cool to see where the Romney camp's collective head was at following his terrific first debate performance or the release of the 99% video, but it's in these sequences that the film's themes are least evident.
And those themes-when Whiteley lets them shine-are more than capable of carrying the film. Political documentaries are a dime a dozen, but ones that are generally spin-free and level-headed don't come along often. Whiteley's lack of interest in scoring political points allows him to put a face (Romney's) on a problem rarely discussed from a politics-free perspective. Why do politicians pander? Because we want them to. Or maybe it's because they think we want them to. Either way, it's a problem because real people aren't running for office. It's hard to say if votes would have changed had people met this Mitt during his run for the presidency, but it would have been nice to have two three-dimensional individuals-not two cartoony, villainous caricatures-seeking to become the most powerful person in the world.
Mitt's thematic strengths help it overcome its tendencies to meander and focus too much on Romney minutiae. It could be a case of the director being too close to the material and wanting people to see the real Mitt desperately. (At one point, a Romney grandchild runs at the camera and gleefully yells, "Greg!") I'm just not sure he realizes what the strengths of his film are. But whether he does or not, Mitt is a strong, pleasant example of fly-on-the-wall non-fiction filmmaking.
http://www.johnlikesmovies.com/mitt-review/
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/10/23
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