Roger Ebert Ponders 'Hillary and Bill: The Movie'

Ever the astute observer, both of movies and of real life, Roger Ebert posted on his shiny new blog today a great post wondering what Hillary and Bill: The Movie might look like. Ebert talks about great political movies of the past, especially noting two of my own faves, Barry Levinson's Wag the Dog and Warren Beatty's fantastic Bulworth (two of the best political movies ever made). He ponders what a movie -- a narrative, not a documentary -- following the private moments of Hillary and Bill Clinton, during the last days of this seemingly endless primary campaign, might look like. Ebert writes:

Yet there must have been private moments of despair. The two realists, as able as anyone to read the trends, must have spoken privately about their shrinking options. And on Tuesday night, as Hillary's double-digit lead in Indiana dwindled to very small single digits, there must have come a time when one of them said, "We've lost this thing."

What were those moments like? What kept them going between themselves? Did they encourage one another, or was there an unspoken pact not to voice the unspeakable? Was there blame when Bill had one of his unwise moments? Did their shared past, of success and scandal, enter into it, or were they absorbed in this moment?

In answering those questions, there you would find the movie.

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Indeed. This could be a very smart, very truthful film, if it was written and directed by the right people, and cast astutely. There are probably lots of folks who could make a movie like this, but you know what? I'd love to see Half Nelson and Sugar team Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck write such a screenplay, and make such a film. In both their previous films, the pair did such a lovely job of capturing private conversations, and deeply personal moments. They know how to write them, they know how to shoot them, and they certainly, especially in the case of Ryan Gosling's stand-out performance in Half Nelson, know how to get that emotion captured eloquently on screen. And I also know who I'd love to see take on the roles of the ex-President and the Presidential-hopeful: William H. Macy and his wife, Felicity Huffman. Now that's a movie I'd pay to see.

I'm sure you have your own thoughts on who could write and direct such a film, and who could star in it, so sound off with your own ideas as well. Be sure to go read all of Ebert's post, while you're at it -- as usual, it's a thoughtful and eloquent piece of writing