One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern

Released Sep 16, 2005

2h 3m

Documentary

List

82%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

76%

Audience Score

50+ Ratings

Filmmaker Stephen Vittoria examines the political career of George McGovern, former senator and 1972 presidential candidate.

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Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

... largely succeeds.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 23, 2005

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Andrew O'Hehir

Salon.com

It's a deeply flawed film but also an important one; if it does nothing else it should bring this decent and courageous prairie populist, whose very name has become a patently unfair term of abuse, before at least a few members of a new generation.

Sep 16, 2005

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Elizabeth Weitzman

New York Daily News

Parallels to the current day are plain to see, so Vittoria's insistence on juxtaposing images of contemporary politicians and an angry narration only undercut the power of his otherwise absorbing presentation.

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 16, 2005

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Steven Mikulan

L.A. Weekly

[A] surprisingly thorough film.

Nov 17, 2005

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Chris Hewitt

St. Paul Pioneer Press

An effort to secure former Sen. George McGovern's place in history, and it does a pretty good job.

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 20, 2005

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Eric Monder

Film Journal International

Just too hagiographic to engage anyone but the most nostalgic follower of the 1972 campaign.

Oct 6, 2005

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s r

Informative, yet biased. I did enjoy mcgoverns perspectives, he was knowledgable and wise. However, Many of those involved were unqualified to voice their opinion, but were included because of their extremes. It is easy to criticize the election of Nixon.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Every American should watch this movie about a true American Hero: George McGovern.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Audience Member

Very strong docu-film

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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Audience Member

Oh, how badly I wanted to enjoy this. But I can't shake the feeling that George McGovern deserved better than bitter polemics and tired hippie reminiscences. It's a tragedy that the bums lost, but maybe the bums aren't the ones to dissect the reasons for their loss.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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Audience Member

Like any Liberal documentary you get a lot of the good vs. evil stuff and McGovern is painted in totally rosy colors, but I think the film had a point about the brilliance and failure of his 1972 bid for the presidency.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

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Audience Member

as usual, its not a great formal documentary. and theres not nearly enough time spent with mcgovern face to face. but jesus christ what a history lesson and a sense of patriotism. mcgovern should be the fulcrum of contemporrry american political hisotory. i'm also pretty drunk.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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Stephen Vittoria

Director

Amy Goodman

Self

Thomas Knock

Self

Howard Zinn

Self

Gore Vidal

Self

Stephen Vittoria

Writer

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Stephen Vittoria examines the political career of George McGovern, former senator and 1972 presidential candidate.

Director: Stephen Vittoria
Producer: Frank Fischer, Stephen Vittoria
Screenwriter: Stephen Vittoria
Distributor: First Run
Production Co: Street Legal Cinema
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 16, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $15.5K
Runtime: 2h 3m