Tanner '88

Rating PG Formats DVD Genre comedy Publisher Criterion Collection External Links Criterion Collection

As we drag ourselves kicking and screaming through another election year, it is hard to remember that politicians are just human beings - no less and most certainly no more. With each election, though, buying this one simple truth becomes more and more difficult. How can even a modicum of truth be drawn when candidates' handlers screen event attendees to make sure they are party faithful, when commercials fabricate lies to discredit the opposition, and when buzz words are replaced by even more simplistic "talking points?" How can we have reached such a point of incredulity that the only trustworthy news source for a growing percentage of Americans is "The Daily Show"?

The answer is simple: We got here one step at a time.

The political process has been systematically dismantling itself for years. Most want to blame the media, others want to blame the handlers while still others cling to the "hope" that this is all the handiwork of some nameless evil cabal we can't even see let alone defeat. It is only human nature to find comfort in powerlessness when powerlessness is all that is offered.

Anyone who believes that our current electoral problems are somehow the fault of our present times would do well to look at the history of the political film. As far back as 1940, Preston Sturges was telling us in The Great McGinty that politicians are so corrupt and the process so flawed that the only possible way for an elected official to disgrace himself is to do something good. In Franklin Schaffner's The Best Man (1964), a good presidential candidate can only save the country from his very bad opponent by going down in flames with him. In Michael Ritchie's The Candidate (1972), a well-meaning, rebellious would-be senator is so "tamed" that he can't recall what he believes in on the night of his victory - much to the relief of his handlers.

In many ways, though, the one that buttons it all up is not a movie but a television series. Tanner '88, written by Gary Trudeau and directed by Robert Altman, was one of the first series produced by HBO. Signaling the way for the cable outlet's future programming, Tanner '88 was - to use the buzz words - cutting edge and hip. Given that things defined by these words usually date badly, it is downright astonishing how fresh this series still feels. Of course it doesn't hurt that it also inadvertently reveals how history tends to repeat itself.

Jack Tanner (a perfectly cast Michael Murphy) is an obscure congressman from Michigan. A pleasant liberal, he throws his hat in the ring and soon finds himself caught up in that quadrennial maelstrom known as the primaries. Over the eleven episodes of the series, we watch as Tanner goes from naive and hapless to experienced, motivated and even more hapless. We also see something happen to him that absolutely slaughters any possibility of ever winning the prize: He finds that he really does believe in what he's saying. It is an irony as savage as it is also unfortunately historically inevitable.

Irony, though, does not a television series make. What drives Tanner '88 through its compulsively watchable six hours is the extraordinary vision of its director. By 1988, Altman had long since developed his particular brand of ensemble-driven, improvisationally-based cinema. A descendant of the director's Nashville (in which Murphy played the smooth campaign manager), Tanner '88 presents a panoramic view of the American political process, one where our knowledge of what's going on is based on snippets of dialogue that we overhear in the chaos.

This is staged and scripted drama presented as cinema verite. Altman brilliantly shattered the lines that divided the real from the fictional by filming Tanner '88 at the primary stops as well as the 1988 Democratic National Convention. He heightens this seeming reality by using the actual participants of that election. Bruce Babbitt takes Tanner for a walk in Washington to explain the rules of the game; Kitty Dukakis takes Jack's fiance to lunch in a bid to get her to solicit Tanner's endorsement, and; Ralph Nader, Gloria Steinem and Studs Terkel all accept possible cabinet posts should Tanner make it to the White House. With a knowing wink, Altman lets them all have their moment in front of the lens. He is presenting the actor as politician in world peopled by politicians as actors.

Tanner '88 is filled with such humor and with an acuity of vision that gets downright eerie at times. In one episode, reporters are running a daily "in-house" report on the asinine things that the politicians are saying. The fact that the one candidate most consistently in need of a spin away from his own tongue is George Bush not only foreshadowed the recurring problem that would dog the ultimate winner of the '88 campaign, it also reminds us that our more recent Bush's slips are part of a long family tradition.

There is probably more political cinema at this moment than at any other time in our history. What separates Tanner '88 from our current crop of wildly slanted "documentaries" (Control Room, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bush's Brain) and poorly aimed arrows (Silver City) is its willingness to expose the corruptions and the inanities while never becoming mean-spirited or, worse, convinced of its own rectitude. Certainly Tanner '88 contains some less than admirable guys - the lecherous and ambition reporter David Seidelman (Richard Cox) and the wildly unethical and inappropriate cameraman Deke (Matt Malloy) come immediately to mind - but Altman's view is less judgmental than in his earlier works like A Wedding (1978) or the unreleased Health (1980). He shows a great and equal affection for both the strengths and the weaknesses of these people. Tanner may trip over his own beliefs occasionally but at least he has those beliefs. His daughter, Alex (Cynthia Nixon) may have some "control issues" but always with the best of intentions. And his long-suffering manager, T.J. (Pamela Reed) can snap an aide in two for a slight misstep but is also capable of taking that same aide out for a well-deserved sauna and shopping trip.

I've spent a good amount of time this past year thanking God for "The Daily Show" and "The Onion." In a political season that seems to get worse by the day, I've been starving for good satire. Criterion Collection's release of Tanner '88 is like getting a free pass to a great buffet. They have also timed the release to coincide with Sundance Channel's new update of the series. Tanner now takes the characters into the present. Centering on Alex, the new installments deal with her difficulties as she tries to create a documentary about the current election.

Now here is one family dynasty I can endorse.