The political comedy The Hater by director Joey Alley premiered last March 18, 2022, starring Daniel Crown, Bruce Dern, Nora Dunn, Meredith Hagner, Ian Harding, Joey Ally, D’Angelo Lacy, Adrienne Childress, and Tory Lenosky. The film follows Dorothy, a liberal environmentalist who recently lost her job as a liberal speechwriter on a U.S. Senate campaign. She decides to go back to her hometown in Texas where she finds out that her greatest enemy, her childhood nemesis Brent, is running for office as the sole Republican candidate. She will do anything for Brent not to win and she hatches a plan to run against him with a bigger plan up her sleeve. Common Sense Media published a review of the film and praised it for its themes of humanity saying, “It’s when the film explores others’ humanity, regardless of political affiliation, that its throughline — decent people can work together to make the country better — rings truest.” Watching The Hater was fun and it also tackled relevant themes related to politics. If you’re looking for a similar political film to watch, here are five of our movie recommendations.
The Campaign
The Campaign is a 2012 American political satire comedy film directed by Jay Roach, who directed Meet the Parents, with a screenplay by Shawn Harwell and Chris Henchy, and stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. Just like The Hater, the film centers on the competition of two rivals vying for a position. It follows Cam Brady (Will Ferrel) who stirs controversy just before the election and a pair of wealthy CEOs who take advantage of the situation. The two CEOs who plan to have more power over the district connive with the naive director of the local Tourism Center, Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis) to run against Brady leading to a very competitive campaign. Los Angeles Times reviewed the film and wrote, “Rude, rowdy and raunchy, The Campaign gleefully skewers the current sad state of American politics. With a target that tempting, it’s not surprising that this cynical and funny film hits more often than it misses.”
Election
Another political comedy worth watching is the 1999 American black comedy film Election directed by Alexander Payne from a screenplay by Payne and Jim Taylor and stars Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Tom Perrotta. The plot centers on the rivalry between overachiever student Tracy Flick who is running for student body president and social studies teacher Jim McAllister who dislikes Tracy very much. McAllister will do anything for Tracy to lose and tries to sabotage her candidacy. The film received critical acclaim, especially for Witherspoon’s performance as Tracy Flick. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, a Golden Globe nomination for Witherspoon for Best Actress, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film in 1999. In an article by Vanity Fair, they wrote, “ It’s one of those stories that only seems to become more sharp and prescient with age.” In the same article, they shared excerpts from their interview with director Payne where he shared about how the film is Obama’s favorite political movie. “Barack Obama told me twice that it was his favorite political movie. I met him once in 2005, and he had just been elected senator, and again in 2008 when he was running. Both times when I introduced myself, he said, ‘Oh, Election is my favorite political movie.’”
Irresistible
The 2020 political comedy film Irresistible written and directed by Jon Stewart shares similar themes with The Hater and focuses on the strategy behind political campaigns. It stars Steve Carell, Chris Cooper, Mackenzie Davis, Topher Grace, Natasha Lyonne, and Rose Byrne. The film follows Democratic strategist Gary Zimmer who helps Jack, a local candidate who is a marine veteran and farmer, win the elections in a small town in Wisconsin. WIth Zimmer disappointed in the 2016 presidential election, he sees the small town election as an opportunity to convince the central part of America to vote Democrat in the next presidential election. Together with his team, Zimmer helps Jack reach the road to Victory. In a film review by The Guardian, they shared how the film has something “reassuringly nostalgic” about it and wrote, “It’s not just that the film was shot in 2019, before the current crises. It’s more that Stewart adopts a gentle Capra-esque tone, looking beyond the ghastliness of the current incumbent, focusing instead on the wider, non-partisan problems that beset American politics.”
In The Loop
If you enjoyed The Hater’s humor, you will surely laugh a lot watching the 2009 British satirical black comedy film In the Loop directed by Armando Iannucci. The film stars Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, Chris Addison, David Rasche, and James Gandolfini and is a spin-off of Iannucci’s award-winning BBC Television series The Thick of It. The film follows a group of American and British operatives as they try their best to prevent a war between the two countries after a remark from the British Cabinet Minister during an interview stir a conflict. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and it was nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Rolling Stone published a review of the film and wrote, “The dangerous incompetence of these warring factions will strike you as more than familiar. That’s why the laughs stick in the throat. But laugh you will, loud and often. In the Loop deserves to be a sleeper hit. The whole cast is stellar. And it proves that smart and funny can exist in the same movie, even in summer.”
Game Change
The 2012 American political drama film Game Change has a more serious tone than The Hater but is definitely a must-watch political movie. The film stars Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, and Ed Harris tells the story of John McCain selecting Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska to be his running mate in the 2008 United States presidential election. The film was directed by Jay Roach with a screenplay by Danny Strong, based on the 2010 book of the same name. The film earned several awards, including a Critics’ Choice Television Award, a Directors Guild of America Award, a Producers Guild of America Award, a Golden Nymph Award, three Golden Globe Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Writers Guild of America Award. In an article published by New York Times, they praised Moore for her portrayal of Sarah Palin saying, “Ms. Moore plays the candidate with surprising finesse. This is a sharp-edged but not unsympathetic portrait of a flawed heroine, colored more in pity than in admiration.”Julianne Moore
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