One Bright Shining Moment - The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern

Nixon / McGovern is the first presidential race that I can remember. I was in the third grade, so of course I did not understand the issues. All I knew was that my parents supported Nixon and my college aged brother supported McGovern.

History classes in elementary and high school never got past WWII, so this film helped me fill a gap. One of the deleted scenes explains how the U.S. first got involved in Vietnam and perhaps should have been the opening of the film.

It is great that they were able to capture McGovern in his own words while he was still alive. There are wonderful insights by Dick Gregory, Gore Vidal, and Gloria Steinem. Some of the other "talking heads" added very little and should have been excluded or cut way down. Framing them in extreme close ups made for unpleasant viewing.

The rest of the film is both too much and too little. The film opens with footage of Bush II, Clinton, etc. in what may have looked current when the film was made, but now just seems dated. It also hits you over the head with the creator's political agenda. The film returns several times to political events of the 80's, 90's, etc that have nothing to do with McGovern. It's a pointless (and wildly speculative) "look what happened because McGovern wasn't elected" argument.

The narration is over the top severe, but blandly delivered by a woman who sounds like she is reading a script.

We know how brutal Vietnam was. After a while, the repeated footage of body parts and mutilated people seemed gratuitous. We get the point.

Meanwhile, news footage that would have brought the past to life is missing. We hear about a debate in which fellow Democrat Humphrey brutally attacked McGovern. Why not show it?

McGovern's wife is barely mentioned and we learn almost nothing about her. Ditto for his children. If he had any life outside of politics, we weren't shown it. His political career ended in 1972. What did this man do for the next 40 years?

The film assumes too much knowledge of people and events. Muskie, Wallace, Humphrey, and other names and faces flash by with little explanation of who they were. As a yearbook for McGovern campaign workers, this may not be needed, but for educational purposes, this should have been included.

This film could have used an independent editor. I recommend this film, but if you weren't following the events when they occurred, you may have to supplement it with outside reading.

George McGovern is a war hero of WW2 come home to teach the world the hard won lesson of peace. This documentary interviews some of his closest campaign workers and shows footage of his early years in politics FOOD FOR PEACE and his early elections. Bright and shining late at night in sincere work of conventioneers, un-orchestrated as are the fake campaigns of corporation candidates of before and after. Listen and look at the days once when a man of the people sought to remove a corrupt President from office, who did resign for crimes committed before and after the 1972 election. Watch this historic saga of democracy by people, not bribed agents of corruption. The inspiration you may find can guide you in the current race for the White House by Dr Jill Stein @JillStein2012 www.jillstein.org

This "crying over their whiskey" and "licking their wounds" endeavor is a profoundly bad exploration of what might have been. There is not a single thing wrong with Presidential also-ran George McGovern, according to this one-dimensional documentary. The movie asks us to believe that this decent guy (who does share many of my values) would really have turned out to be equal parts Joan of Arc, Sir Lancelot and Teddy Roosevelt had he reached the White House. But sharing my values doesn't mean you have any fight in you. Instead McGovern was just another Casper Milquetoast who couldn't get it done. Even 50 years later, McGovern is as dull as dishwater (he appears here); as earnest, decent and bland as a Dickens protagonist.

Hindsight is always terrific: all things that didn't happen, are 100 percent superior (in some minds) than the awful things that we've watched happen. Well we don't need to see what might have happened with his presidency. We already know what happens to the presidencies of lackluster, nice guys. Their worldview proves to be too simplistic for the challenges that are foisted on them, and they are easily played by the more cynical GOP. Just look at the line-up of weak, apologetic Dems who failed to reach the White House because they couldn't assert themselves (Humphrey, McCarthy, McGovern, Stevenson, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry), or the Dems who did make it to the White House who proved to be extremely weak leaders (Carter, Obama).

Attempting to associate McGovern with Camelot, the imagery of the Kennedy years (see title) is just sad & grasping. Amy Goodman, champion of all things Left, loses some credibility for even associating with this. un-nuanced sob-story. hagiography

Stephen Vittoria performs a public service with this dynamite doc on George McGovern, a man who embodies what all Americans who aspire to public service should be. McGovern's inherent decency cost him one of the nation's most crucial Presidential elections in 1972, running against the original king of dirty tricks, Richard Milhouse Nixon. Although McGovern's platform was somewhat vindicated when Nixon's White House was outed by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as the most corrupt administration in American history (with Tricky Dick's resignation soon following), the tragedy of his loss, and his subsequent fade into the background of American history still resonates.

Hopefully our best and brightest young people will see this film and will be inspired by Sen. McGovern and his message to enter public service, and contribute to making this country and this planet a better place. As of right now, we have nowhere to go but up! Kudos to you, Steve, and bravo Senator McGovern!

"One Bright Shining Moment" is the kick in the butt reality of what this country is, and what we should all inspire to become. Beginning with problems with the Vietnam war, George McGovern is a man who truly would have altered history as we know it. Or has he? Stephen Vittoria tells the remarkable tale of a man who, even in his eighties, could run rings around the present day administration. With great narrative by Amy Goodman and unmistakable interviews with Gore Vidal and Warren Beatty, being "progressive" takes on the dictionary's true definition.

For example, progressive means moving forward and advancing. Proceeding in steps and continuing steadily by increments, or promoting and favoring progress toward better conditions or new policies, ideas, and methods.

It is my opinion that this film is a mentor of hope and should be passed along to EVERY young person in this once great land of ours! I only wish my history class was this enjoyable.