Book review: Hollywood Goes To Washington, by Michael Coyne

Reaktion Books, £16.95

BEARING in mind the seismic shift in politics that ruptured America during its 'Bushwhacked'-era, and given the forthcoming presidential election, Michael Coyne's examination of the American political film is timely.

Coyne's slim but exhaustive survey identifies the American political film as a genre which has been around almost since the birth of Hollywood. He defines it as comprising films that deal directly with the nation's political system – be that in Washington or in backwater townships – as opposed to those containing an underlying political message.

So that's the Watergate thriller All The President's Men and the Huey Long Louisiana senator biopic All The King's Men, but not the liberal versus conservative argument couched as courtroom drama of 12 Angry Men. Coyne contends these films vacillate between optimistic idealism and pessimistic pragmatism.

What follows is an overview, academic in tone but laced with droll humour, that takes in both the better and lesser-known films, following a roughly chronological order, beginning with the 1915 DW Griffith silent The Birth Of A Nation and finishing with Paul Greengrass's 9/11 reconstruction United 93, released in 2006. In between, Coyne outlines how American political cinema has engaged with the major issues of the past 80 years, from the pre-Pearl Harbour championing of democracy in Mr Smith Goes To Washington, via the post-JFK nuclear paranoia of Fail-Safe, to the ridiculing of Clinton-administration sleaze and spin in Wag The Dog.

Coyne presents a compelling case for America's political cinema: that it has been pervasive and persistently on target – and often ahead of the game – with its critical engagements. As a recent-ish example of the latter, think of 1998's The Siege, in which General Bruce Willis imposes military law on New York City, clamping down on civil liberties in the wake of a terrorist action. This was committed to celluloid three years before 9/11 and the passing of the Patriot Act.

Inevitably, Hollywood Goes To Washington will date swiftly. Nevertheless, Coyne's thesis about American political cinema is likely to ring as true in the future as it does retrospectively.