The Hunting of the President (2004)

Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998 because he broke the law! He lied under oath to a federal grand jury, which is punishable by five years in prison.He also obstructed justice, the same type of offense which led to the resignation of RIchard Nixon during the Watergate controversy.Clinton was a lawyer and he knew what he was doing was completely illegal! Clinton lied on national television stating that he "did not have sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky!" It's so pathetic that some people think it's unfair that the president was impeached because he broke the law. That is a fact.Bill Clinton is the second president in history to be impeached. He left office with one of the most untrustworthy ratings in history.This is an attempt by this so-called "documetary" to rewrite history as it actually happened. If Clinton didn't want to be impeached he should have told the truth, but he lied just like Richard Nixon and paid the consequences for it. Nixon resigned and Clinton was impeached. Nothing will ever change that.

A well-produced, well-paced and gripping documentary. I think that my favorite part of the DVD was actually the special feature, where Clinton spoke to the audience at one of the premiere showings. He deftly summarized some of the larger sweeping changes in politics since the founding of the nation. One key observation he made was that with the ending of the Cold War, there was no longer an outside enemy for our two-party system to unite against, and one result of this was that Conservative Republican side of the aisle turned on the Liberal Democrat side, demonizing them and branding them as the new enemy to replace the Eastern Block. It seems to me this newer trend has continued for the past 6 years after Clinton left office, even after the emergence of terrorism as a new outside threat. The proof is that the Democrats are now currently virtually locked out of the legislative process. We'll see if tomorrow's election changes the situation.

By the very topic of this documentary, it would be hard for it not to be thought-provoking. However, I wasn't a fan of the way it was put together. The stock footage from old black-and-white that was used throughout to illustrate different events for which there was no other footage (raids on houses, sexual dalliances etc) was somewhat off-putting. What's wrong with talking heads? Are our collective attention spans so low now that we have to be constantly bombarded with images, even if they do not directly relate to the subject?I also thought the whole thing was rushed toward the end, with everything Lewinsky-related brushed over. This could be because the filmmaker/author is a Clinton friend and/or he feels the whole event was rather tawdry and not worthy of further analysis (possibly very true). However, if you do not have a great understanding of the 'Whitewater' affair (and I didn't) then you may find some of the film rather confusing as you try to put together the various names, faces and their roles within the whole debacle (I'm still trying to put together a couple of pieces of info and people - I'm like Jerry Seinfeld at the movies - "Why did he kill that guy? I thought he was with them? Why did he kill him?")Overall, this film raised some interesting, but not entirely original, points about the way the right-wing media and conservative groups are able to demonise and manipulate politics and events to suit their own needs. However, if you watch this on DVD, I strongly recommend the extra feature, which is of Clinton giving (an apparently off-the-cuff and without notes) 30-minute speech at the premiere of the film. Although this highlights the obvious partisanship behind the movie, it also reminds you what a brilliant, analytical mind the ex-president has - something the present incumbent could never hop to match.

The Hunting of a President is a documentary which chronicles the right wing beyond-all-reason attempt to unseat President Clinton during his two terms in office. Although it offers insights into the innerworkings of the anti-Clinton cabal, the film is more historical retrospective than revealing sensationalism as it pulls together the salient elements of what ultimately proved an ill-wrought Republican debacle. You'll see a rehash of everything from the Paula Jones brouhaha to the Whitewater scandal to the Ken Star witch-hunt to the Lewinsky affair and more all neatly laid out in a 90 minute package. Under special features is a talk by Bill Clinton which adds historical context and ancillary commentary. Well worth a look for anyone who lived through the 90's feeling as though they never quite understood what all that flack was about. (B)