An Unreasonable Man
by Henriette Mantel, Steve Skrovan
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Actor: Andrew Egendorf, Howard Zinn, Pat Buchanan, Phil Donahue, Ralph NaderDirector: Henriette Mantel, Steve Skrovan
Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
Cinematographer: Mark Raker
Cinematographer: Matt Davis
Writer: Henriette Mantel
Writer: Steve Skrovan
Editor: Alexis Provost
Editor: Beth Gallagher
Producer: Kevin O'Donnell
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-06-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Ifc
DVD Reviews of An Unreasonable Man
DVD Review: Alas, I finally got his message, maybe too late.
Summary: 5 Stars
Ralph Nader is truly one of the greatest people I know. I am still young and have so much to learn, but over the past 3-year period I have learned so much about how the world really works that I am not really sure what it would look like within next 5 to 10 years.
This isn't about money, glory, or self-aggrandizement. It is a story about a man who fought a long, hard, and lonely battle against the world's most powerful people almost single-handedly. I wished I had found him earlier. For those who are wondering about what your life is about watch this film along with some additional references below
Zeitgeist the Movie
Zeitgeist Addendum
Zeitgeist Movement
America : From Freedom to Fascism
Money Masters
Aerosol Crimes
Chemtrails Confirmed
Matrix of Evil
Endgame
How The World Really Works
The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
DVD Review: Interesting portrait of a controversial icon
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a warts-and-all biography of Ralph Nader, a hero to many for his longtime consumer activism and battles with corporations and a pariah to some for his political campaigns. The film moves chronologically through his early life, his work on car and other product safety issues, the founding of Public Citizen, his involvement with the Carter Administration, his disillusionment with the major parties during the Reagan Years, and his stubborn and ultimately futile quests for the presidency.
I come away from the film with the view that Nader must be counted one of the most important and idealistic Americans in the history of our country, but at the same time a person who unfortunately did not understand, and still does not understand, the value of compromise. He is a bullheaded machine, consumed by his efforts on behalf of social justice to such an extent that he has virtually no personal life and almost completely disregards the personal consequences of these battles.
To accuse Nader of singlehandedly costing the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections for the Democratic candidates is far too simplistic. Both Gore and Kerry ran terrible campaigns. The blame, in the end, must be distributed much further: to the media, which treats elections as entertainment; to political parties, which tightly control who is allowed to speak and what they are permitted to say; and to the American people, who have proved themselves tragically uninformed and shortsighted as to the responsibilities of citizenship, the dangers of fiscal and military recklessness, and the lasting effects of poor electoral choices.
The clips of Nader's public life from the 1960s through the 2000s are well-chosen, as are the interview subjects: Nader himself, his closest associates, and his fiercest critics. All are allowed to speak freely about the man; the filmmakers evidence no overt bias toward or against him. Interviews could have been more tightly edited, however, so as to make a shorter, more effective production.
For political junkies, the bonus disc includes nearly two hours of additional interviews on the subjects of leadership, Nader's agenda, third parties, the Democrats, the Right, the Iraq War, and corporate power.
A fine documentary overall. Recommended.
DVD Review: hypomaniac. on a white horse.
Summary: 5 Stars
Disc 2 is worth the price alone. Special Features on disc 2 include: Profile of a Charismatic Leader, What Kind of President Would Ralph Nader Be? and Debating the Role of Third Parties in the U.S. Influential professor of psychology at Harvard Howard Gardner, along with former associates-"Nader's Raders", and others offer insights. John Gartner, author of "The Hypomaniac Edge", says Nader has hypomania. He explains it is not a disorder but a rare temperament and one feature of this condition is the need for less sleep and ability to work at high levels of energy for extremely long periods of time. Gardner says Nader is like Freud in that he wasn't simply the best or most successful you-name-it of his generation (actor, lawyer, novelist, etc.) he was the creator of a new "sphere". The sphere created was consumer activism and each and every American as well as people throughout the world have greatly benefited.
The full lenth film fully covers the very long and and almost unbelievably productive career of Ralph Nader from his early battle with GM and their death-trap car all the through to his presidential campaigns. Whether you love him or hate him this is an excellent documentary and should be seen by anyone with an interest in our country, which like one review says should be everyone.
Critics do have there say although they surely would feel they needed more time. Perhaps several hours to complain. Former 60s activist Todd Gitlin mockingly dismisses Nader as "the knight on a white horse". Eric Alterman whines,"Thank you Ralph Nader for George Bush", "Thank you Ralph Nader for..." and he repeats this, each time thanking Nader for everything that is wrong now. (When I say whines I mean whines.) Ralph Nader--What springs to mind for you when you hear the name Ralph Nader? I was thinking of what comes to the mind of most Democrats. Lol. Maybe his life confronts us with the eternal conflict between principal and pragmatism. Or realism and idealism. But whatever. I feel like whining myself. I've been paying some attention the realistic, pragmatic Democratic Party. They've accomplished nothing but sucking especially since Bill Clinton. The Democratic Congress elected in '06 has received lower approval ratings than "the worst president in history"! And they should. I honestly cannot believe what a bunch of two-faced, lying, cowardly snakes make up that corrupt corportist party that at very best is *sometimes* the lesser of two evils, but evil nonetheless. So thank you Democrats! And I *hope* the new great man *changes* things but other than looking smart and speaking well, it's looking about as deep as a makeover for an old who-e.
DVD Review: An Unreasonable Man is a Perfectly Resonable Film
Summary: 4 Stars
An Unreasonable Man paints a picture of its subject, consumer advocate and candidate Ralph Nader, which is neither flattering nor vilifying. Rather directors Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan chooses to paint a picture of Nader that captures this remarkable man warts and all. Focusing on Nader's "rise and fall" in a chronological order with occasional personal interludes.
The compelling narrative presented is Nader's single mindedness. Like Don Quixote, Nader is portrayed as a man with a will of steal. The documentary focuses on how this drive which has for years pushed his efforts to success, would later lead him to chase windmills that he couldn't defeat, those of the American political system.
The documentary seems largely aimed reclaiming Nader's pre-candidacy legacy as a legislative reformer fighting for the American consumer. The bulk of the film focuses here. Telling of how Nader build one of the largest consumer rights organization in the history of the nation, the documentary at the same time touches on how the founding of progressive groups led to the founding of their counterparts. The film does however take small steps at reclaiming the legacy of his campaign, presenting an array of arguments for and against his campaigns in 2000 and 2004. The most interesting point is an interview with the author of an American Political Science Association Article looking at Nader's impact on the 2000 election.
An Unreasonable Man, is a compassionate portrait, while it takes great strides towards being objective, its sentimentality still leaks through. Like its subject, the film is compelling, warts and all. An Unreasonable Man is 2hrs. 1min. Long, and is not rated, although there is no nudity, sex, and little, if any, profanity.
DVD Review: An Unfeasible Man
Summary: 5 Stars
This film deserves every accolade it has received. It's probably the best documentary I've seen in the last 5 years, and man have I seen some documentaries. It is thought-provoking whenever it doesn't succeed at entertaining, and vice-versa.
This biopic does many things, deceptive and otherwise. Firstly, Nader is somehow made out to seem like a regular human, when, from other interviews, you can clearly tell he is a space alien sent as some sort of social experiment, possibly to see how long it takes for us to notice. Second of all, it reveals the unalloyed vitriol that Nader is forced to withstand, from Democratic partisans and other less-than-stable elements of the populace. Note to Democrats: the people who helped ruin the election chose between a guy with no chance and your party, what does that tell you? Eric Alterman is particularly repugnant, frothing at the mouth with venomous personal enmity in between miniature paroxysms.
The movie also makes some excellent points about American democracy, sometimes discreetly, sometimes more overtly, such as when Nader is being escorted away by police, despite having a valid pass to watch the debate between Bush and Gore. Good thing they stopped that crime before it was ever committed! A slightly unnerving vignette, to say the least.
If anything you'll see that Nader is essentially a decent guy, even if he is from another dimension, and in spite of some outlandish and sometimes not particularly coherent political beliefs. While I don't quite agree he fits the description of G.B. Shaw's quote from which the film takes its name, I'm certainly convinced he's a worthy subject for a documentary.
Description of An Unreasonable Man
In 1966, General Motors, the most powerful corporation in the world, sent private investigators to dig up dirt on an obscure thirty-two year old public interest lawyer named Ralph Nader, who had written a book critical of one of their cars, the Corvair. The scandal that ensued after the smear campaign was revealed launched Ralph Nader into national prominence and established him as one of the most admired Americans and the leader of the modern Consumer Movement. Over the next thirty years and without ever holding public office, Nader built a legislative record that is the rival of any contemporary president. Many things we take for granted including seat belts, airbags, product labeling, no nukes, even the free ticket you get after being bumped from an overbooked flight are largely due to the efforts of Ralph Nader and his citizen groups. Yet today, when most people hear the name "Ralph Nader," they think of the man who gave the country George W. Bush. As a result, after sustaining his popularity and effectiveness over an unprecedented amount of time, he has become a pariah even among former friends and allies. How did this happen? Is he really to blame for George W. Bush? Who has stuck by him and who has abandoned him? Has our democracy become a consumer fraud? After being so right for so many years, how did he seem to go so wrong? With the help of exciting graphics, rare archival footage and over forty on-camera interviews conducted over the past two years, "An Unreasonable Man" traces the life and career of Ralph Nader, one of the most unique, important, and controversial political figures of the past half century.As the title of his biography puts it, Ralph Nader: Crusader, Spoiler, Icon. Without him, automobiles would be less safe... and Al Gore would've been elected president. Well, one of those statements is not in dispute. Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan's illuminating documentary begins in the 1950s with Nader's career as a consumer advocate and ends with his more recent reputation as election spoiler. Along the way, they look at a provincial childhood steeped in politics (his parents were community activists). Throughout, they speak with a broad spectrum of interested observers, including Phil Donahue, Pat Buchanan, Howard Zinn--even Bill Murray. They also feature commentary from the man himself. George Bernard Shaw provides the provocative title. In context, it sums up the film's perspective: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." So, on the one hand, Nader has saved thousands of lives. On the other, his third party candidacy ruined the 2000 election for many voters. An Unreasonable Man may not convince anyone that the campaign was a wise move, but Skrovan and Mantel, a former Nader associate, make a convincing case that he's a Democrat in the truest sense, i.e. a man committed to the idea that one citizen can make a difference. This Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominee is necessary viewing for any person interested in American politics--which should be everyone. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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