AN UNREASONABLE MAN
The Sarcasm and Disdain for a Champion Consumer Advocate Speak Loudly: "Thanks a
lot, Ralph!"
PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "An Unreasonable Man"
By Omar P.L. Moore/March 9, 2007
An unchanging, unquenchable drive for economic and consumer
justice: Nader then, Nader then, Nader now, in shots from "An Unreasonable Man"
(Photos courtesy: IFC Films)
"An Inconvenient Truth", about Al Gore's one-man mission to spearhead the
conscience of the world in the fight against climate change and global warming,
was a revelation last year among audiences everywhere, culminating in
Oscar-winning glory last month. Now, "An Unreasonable Man" charts the ups
and downs of Ralph Nader, the legendary American consumer advocate who has been
loved as much as he has been loathed for almost five decades now. True to
form, Henriette Mantel and Steve Skovran's documentary is ambivalent about him,
taking an even-handed approach to its subject. "Unreasonable" is more
about those who like or dislike Nader than it is about Mr. Nader himself.
Fighting against the American multi-national corporate machinery as long as he
has has won Mr. Nader many friends and an unhealthy number of enemies. The
documentary charts his roots and his ascendancy at Harvard Law School, to his
Nader's Raiders -- a motley crew of concerned activists who got on board with
Nader to investigate, study, lobby and push for changes in the way corporate
America did business with its consumers. The film also chronicles Nader's
relationship with then-U.S. president Jimmy Carter in the mid-1970's and
continues on into the 1980's and 1990's where Nader in some ways hits the nadir
of his career, becoming a punchline for some jokes, and becoming a figure who
seemed defeated by his own extremely hard work.
If Robert Graysmith devoted ten years to solving a seemingly unsolvable murder
case, then Ralph Nader has dedicated his entire life to fighting for the "little
guy" protecting families from harms that may reside in the very products they
use on a daily basis, while Mr. Nader himself has, at least as the documentary
asserts, never had a significant other of his own to protect. Lone Ranger
he may be, but Mr. Nader is still very much a topic of conversation for many in
politics.
And
Mr. Nader re-emerges in the spotlight in 2000, when he raised the ire of many Al
Gore supporters who thought that Mr. Nader's third-party run (Green Party) for
U.S. president in that year cost Mr. Gore the White House. This aspect of
the film is the most interesting and engaging, as a number of political pundits
from a rather disdainful Eric Alterman of The Nation magazine to a rather
chipper former Republican Pat Buchanan weigh in on one of the most divisive
issues to come out of the 2000 U.S. presidential election, almost as divisive as
the Bush-Gore outcome itself. One of the fascinating things that the
directors Ms. Mandel and Mr. Skovran do is use imagery to trip up the supporters
turned naysayers of Nader, yet without really trying to judge. There are
priceless moments where Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore and many
others are ardent supporters of Mr. Nader, but then following the Gore debacle
retreat to a different political outlook on Nader and a view that he had let
them and others who had supported him down by not withdrawing from the
presidential race, and by taking a percentage of the vote that they felt would
have gone to Mr. Gore.
"An Unreasonable Man" covers an awful lot of ground for its two hours and two
minutes, but always manages to hold your attention and interest. There is
quite a lot to learn about Mr. Nader, and there is some stunning, disturbing
footage of sheriffs and other police officials in Boston, Massachusetts, who
won't even let Mr. Nader get within 2000 feet of an arena hosting a U.S.
presidential debate from 2000 (or 2004) -- even though he shows the police and
sheriff the pass that invited him to be in the room where the debate was taking
place. Mr. Nader is threatened with arrest, but gets to articulate the
brazenly unconstitutional violations of law to the would-be arresting officer,
who doesn't have much patience to listen. When Mr. Nader speaks at this
moment, there is an inescapable truth that the sheriff's official cannot dare to
answer, for no answer can reasonably be given.
Ralph Nader provides several moments of introspection, and it is interesting to
gauge how he views himself in these quieter even faintly austere moments after
we have heard and seen how everyone else in the documentary views him.
The film is very funny at some moments, but its tone is always authentic.
Interestingly enough, Mr. Skovran is a comedian among other occupations, and
there is a comedy about the way people view Mr. Nader that is both sad and funny
all at once. From an overall standpoint, it wouldn't be entirely unfair to
suggest that someone's view of Ralph Nader is akin to someone's view of a
lawyer: you can't stand them, but you need them when something bad happens to
you. The film is a tribute to Mr. Nader's singular drive over 40-plus
years, for economic and consumer justice, a drive done altruistically and
without too much ego -- at least that's what his supporters say.
Others beg to differ.
"An Unreasonable Man" is one of the few documentaries that is able to have its
cake and eat it too, while still emerging as a wonderfully fresh chronicle of
one of America's most-talked about, most "controversial" lightning rods for
discussion.
"An Unreasonable Man" opens today in San Francisco and various other Bay Area
cities in Northern California. It opened in February in New York City and
is making its way around the United States, opening in subsequent cities soon.
The documentary is released by IFC Films and has a running time of two hours and
two minutes. The film is not rated by the Motion Picture Association of
America.
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