Street Fight
I try and follow politics as closely as I can. However, I try and keep things to myself as much as possible, since I find the loudest voices on the subject come from political magpies. When you take this into account along with the amount of documentaries I see due to the sheer number of films I see in general, I end up watching a lot of wanna-be Michael Moores. It seems like we get another anti-war doc every week, so it’s nice to something that isn’t telling us something we already know.
Street Fight is Marhall Curry’s film following the 2002 mayoral election in Newark, New Jersey. The incumbent, Sharpe James, had been a figure in Newark politics for decades. His opponent, Corey Booker decides to run a clean campaign and work from the street level, not only his offices in the area but also from his home in one of the local projects. James on the other hand uses every bit of power he has to bully Booker and manipulate the voters.
This is just a bizarre film. The ability of Sharpe James to flex every bit of muscle he has will leave you slack jawed. Let’s put aside that he has uniformed city workers use their equipment to pull down Booker’s signs, he also has city inspectors either threaten to shut down or actually shut down the homes and businesses of Booker supporters or that he uses plain clothes police as body guards to muscle the media into being afraid of him. We’ll ignore those things for now. The things he actually gets away with accusing Booker of is just mind boggling in their blatant factual inaccuracy. Now, I realize there are lies told in dirty campaigns, but I’ve never heard anyone accuse a black candidate of being white and not only that, but also accepting money from the Ku Klux Klan. It’s just unbelievable.
I would suggest this film for pretty much anyone. I don’t care if you aren’t big into politics or if you don’t like documentaries. Once this the ball gets rolling, you won’t be able to look away. You often hear political races being described as a circus, but this thing is more like a freak show.
The Grade
- Story: N/A
- Acting: N/A
- Visuals: B+
- Originality: A
- Enjoyability: A
- Overall: A
|
