"COMMANDER IN CHIEF: INAUGURAL EDITION, PART I"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5 stars) STARRING Geena Davis as PRESIDENT MACKENZIE ALLEN Donald Sutherland as NATE TEMPLETON Harry Lennix as JIM GARDNER Kyle Secor as ROD CALLOWAY Ever Carradine as KELLY LUDLOW Matt Lanter as HORACE CALLOWAY Caitlin Wachs as REBECCA CALLOWAY Jasmine Anthony as AMY CALLOWAY Rated TV-PG Studio: Touchstone Television Created by: Rod Lurie Back to DVD Review Home |  |
When I first head about the show “Commander in Chief,” I have to admit that I cringed.
It’s not that I would have a problem with a female president. Quite the contrary. I think that there are plenty of women who would make fine commanders in chief. What made me cringe was that I knew this show would turn into a pulpit for the show’s writers to preach their political views.
Of course, over the short life of the show, creator Rod Lurie insisted that it wasn’t a show about politics. However, it is. It is so much about politics that it makes my hair curl. Ultimately, it’s impossible to make a gripping show about national politics and not have it reveal a political slant. This is revealed in the basic premise of the show.
The series opens with Vice President Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis), the independent politician in the Republican White House, on a diplomatic trip to France. There, she is confronted with the White House Chief of Staff who informs her that the President had an aneurysm. He will most likely die, and he has requested that she resign so the Speaker of the House can ascend to the Presidency.
Allen stands firm on moral grounds and, after the President dies, she takes office. Being not only the first female President but also the first from an independent party, Allen finds herself surrounded by enemies. She struggles to keep the country solvent while dealing with the turmoil of the job, the staff shake-ups and the political bickering from all sides of the field.
My biggest problem with this series is that it exists entirely in a liberal fantasy. The basic premise is flawed because it enters the show with the assumption that the Republican political field is so void of women that the right-wing candidate has to go outside of his own party to woo the soccer moms. The reality is that there are plenty of strong female candidates on both sides of the aisle that either party is safe within its own walls.
The show also shows that while President Bridges chose Allen as a running mate for political motivations, no one ever intended for her to take office. However, the reality is that a VP succeeding a President is a very real possibility, happening on an average better than 25 percent. Just look at recent history, and you’ll see a list of VPs (including Bush Sr., Ford, Johnson, Truman, Coolidge and Teddy Roosevelt in the 1900s alone) that have become President by way of untimely death, resignation and the strength of incumbency. This is a very real thing that all candidates know can happen very easily.
While the show makes somewhat exciting popcorn viewing at home, it exists in a world that is in denial of real-world politics. For example, President Allen strong-arms an Islamic nation to release a female prisoner, threatening military action to do so. In reality, this would start an international incident and most likely result in the prisoner getting a bullet in the brain before her corpse would be dragged through the streets.
Too many of the episodes show President Allen threatening military force without ever being required to follow through. She then makes a heartfelt speech to the press, and everything works out perfectly. Any student of real-world politics knows that nothing ever resolves itself that easily.
The show also tries to balance the “West Wing” nature of the show with the family drama of the kids and First Gentleman settling into their roles. Ultimately, these storylines are actually boring, irrelevant and pretty weak.
Once the show gets the gender politics, name calling and straw-man debates out of the way, it starts to emerge as a decent high-tension drama. However, this happens too late in the ten episodes of this first part of the season. I’m curious to see if the show will evolve into something beyond a fantasy trip into the White House. However, with its recent cancellation, I doubt we will ever find out.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Widescreen (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 televisions. English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.
