Advise & Consent

Advise & Consent

Some movies don't live up to there reputation. In this time of transition I'd love to be able to recommend Otto Preminger's thriller Advise & Consent, about a U.S. President's nomination for Secretary of State who has a secret past, and the political machinations surrounding the Senate approval hearings of his appointment.

Preminger's films often pushed the envelope, dealing with issues that had been taboo in Hollywood's Golden Age, and a number of them hold up well today. Advise & Consent, however isn't one of them. While it was no doubt quite revolutionary to see the U.S. Congress depicted in such a stark, realistic light, a far cry from the Mr. Smith Goes to Washington idealism of the time, it's no longer a novelty in that regard. While the first half of the film builds up some tension, that all seems to dissipate in the second half as it's all bogged down in talk. In its day, maybe it could have sustained the audience's attention for the long haul, but in a post-West Wing, post- House of Cards world it just too dull.