The President's Analyst
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Movie Reviews of The President's Analyst
Movie Review: You're the humanitarian...take the gun !
Summary: 5 Stars
The way I see it, we still have some catching up to do with Theodore J. Flicker's The President's Analyst. At the time it came out it seem to be a hysterical political satire but as the years have gone on it becomes more and more evident of being way, way ahead of it's and our time.
The basic premise is Sidney(James Coburn)has been recuited as the President's analyst. At first he finds the sessions enthralling but as more and more security restrictions are imposed on him, the pressure builds until finally he takes it on the lam. This creates a tempest within the intelligence community and puts a bull's-eye square on Sidney's back. Everyone wants Sidney for what he can tell them or what he might tell the other guy. I don't know what anyone could possibly find dated in this story. Basically, it would play exactly the same today as it did in 1968. The intelligence community hasn't gone anywhere, it's only gotten dumb and dumber. Actually, today it might play exactly like this for real.
Let me digress and talk about how good everyone is in this great movie. Coburn, Godfrey Cambridge, Severn Dardern, William Daniels, Pat Harrington and everyone down to the smallest role are fabulous. Flicker's screenplay and direction seem effortless and freewheeling. The music is ultra cool, especially Barry McGuire's Changes. The only possible knock I could give is there's not a lot of style to the cinematography and editing after the first twenty minutes or so but it's really not a problem and my only gripe.
So far I've been describing a teriffic movie but this is much more. This is a movie forty or fifty or more years ahead of its time. On the order of Metropolis or 2001:A Space Odyssey this movie's vision is more true today than it was when it was first released. Proof of its greatness. It's multi-layered message deals with borders of all sorts ; psychological, national, judicial, family, corporate, spiritual, ethnic, man and woman to mention just a few. What turns out to be the final conspiracy, which is so ahead of its time and what we still have to look foward to and eventually deal with, is what really blows my mind. One of the hundred greatest films ever and yet another delicious pie with Robert Evans' finger in it.
Movie Review: Your worries are now my worries
Summary: 5 Stars
From a political perspective, here's what I think of this movie. Even over a span of four decades its humorous plot
has stood the test of time. Those Russians, Chinese, British and assorted wannabes are still in the spy game with even
more sophisticated techniques. The CIA is alive and well. The only change in the FBI is a limit on its power and a one
term length of service for its director.
In 1967 when this movie was released Libya was already bugging the president even though this country was hardly a
blip on the world's trouble spots. How come Libya, not Russia or China was a cause of worry for the president? That's because, two years later (September 1969) an army colonel, Moammar Gadhafi (spell his name any way you prefer)
seized power and continues to rule in 2011. Ask any theater goer when this film was showing where Libya was. I'm
sure he or she would have to turn to a world atlas for assistance. Today, even our current president had to tell fellow
Americans why the U.S. has to drop bombs to help the Libyan rebels overthrow their ruthless dictator.
James Coburn gives a creditable performance as the self-assured presidential shrink. His own life begins to unravel.
He cannot turn to another psychiatrist for security reasons. A side plot to this drama occurs when Severn Darden, as
lovable Russian agent Kropotkin teams up with Dick Gregory our man from CEA to cripple that monopolistic
communications conglomerate which is every American's favorite whipping boy - TPC
Today, looking for scapegoats among big businesses continues. We have more entities we can vent our ire on - from
software giants to internet and cell phone service providers. And the list goes on. See this movie at least twice. You may even figure out why that fake British rock and roll trio called themselves the Pudlians!
Movie Review: Beware of the Phone Company!
Summary: 5 Stars
Forget the "Flint" movies...this was the role James Coburn was born to play! Unlike the empty-headed 60's spy spoofs Coburn's name usually evokes, "The President's Analyst" is a satire with substance, the kind of film that actually gets better the more times you watch it-on a par with "Dr. Strangelove". Coburn shines as a psychoanalyst who is recruited to be the President's personal shrink by one of his patients. Godfrey Cambridge (in a wonderful performance) is the patient who happens to work for the "CIE" (as opposed to the "FBR"!). The ensuing intrigue and conspiracy paranoia plays out like "Three Days Of The Condor" on acid (literally!). Consistently amusing and a bit "slapstick-y" at times, but the clever political and social satire remains smart and sharp throughout (there's even a scene where a character is desperately trying to reach the White House on a pay phone-a possible homage to the aforementioned "Strangelove"!) You may be surprised at how contemporary this 1967 release feels, despite some inevitable "Summer of Love" trappings. In fact, "President's Analyst" contains the type of elements that would soon find thier way into the more "socially relevant" films of the 1970's, so it was a bit ahead of its time (listen carefully to Godfrey Cambridge's monologue about racism, played directly into the camera; nothing "ha-ha" funny going on there.) A real winner on all fronts. DVD notes: Paramount has given us a sparkling transfer with good audio quality, although dialogue could have been re-mixed with a bit more gain (music and sfx seem to blast and blare in comparison). A minor quibble, as this gem has been long overdue for DVD release!Movie Review: Marvelous, classic satire.
Summary: 5 Stars
When the President of the US begins suffering from stress, Sidney Schaefer (James Coburn) is selected to be his psychoanalyst. The President finds the sessions enormously useful, but Schaefer finds that what was, at first, a great honor and privilege, spirals out of control. The secrets that he has heard might become very useful --or-- dangerous. His anxiety mounts until he finally decides to just make a break from Washington, setting in motion a cross-country chase with the theme: "Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't after me." And indeed, everyone is. America's enemies want his secrets. Even "friendly" nations have their own agendas. And his own security services are divided between those who want to help him, and those who just want to eliminate him as a security threat.The same plot could be played as a political thriller but, here, it is done as a marvelous satirical send-up of the 60's. The cold war, psycho-babble, political correctness, hippies, corporate corruption, bureaucracy; it's all there, and it's all fun.
Coburn and the rest of the cast are wonderful. It is one of my all-time favorite comedies. My only concern is whether the studio has bothered to put together the original film with Barry McGuire's music, and a long missing scene where Coburn's character is introduced to his girl friend. If not, I suppose I will still purchase and recommend it, but the studio should then be required to put a sticker on the box saying, "Most of the President's Analyst." We shall see.
Movie Review: "Rules Are Rules!"
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched this movie two months ago (2007) and that replaced The Coen Brothers film "Raising Arizona" as the funniest and craziest movie I have ever seen in my life. Most funny scene is early on when Don Masters (Godfrey Cambridge) is sitting in Sidney Schafer's (James Coburn) office and he tells him a story of growing up in the south. The laugh comes when he says "Here comes that nigger again!" (another scene that is amusing is when Coburn is in a phone booth and a TPC truck comes in and snatches him and replaces it with another phone booth). The most crazy scene is the concert when the fictional band The Puddlians (lead singer is played by real life singer Barry McGuire) gives the customers LSD in their drinks (which included Cambridge and Severn Darden) and as the music gets louder the crowd gets wacked. The crazy moment comes when one man actually rapes a waitress naked! (that must of been a shock for someone who saw it in 1967) Then there is the surprise ending; for which I can't tell you what happens but pay attention to what happens in the climax (pause the movie and take notes what happening; it could come in handy). Joan Delaney is good as Coburn's girlfriend (at one point she is wearing Pucci-like elephant pants!) and so is William Daniels and Pat Harrington as the president of The Phone Company Arlington Hewes. Wish Paramount would release it again as a special edition.