Toronto. Jimmy Carter Man from Plains.

"[Jonathan] Demme's latest doc [Jimmy Carter Man From Plains] follows President Carter on a publicity tour for his controversial book on the Middle East, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid," begins James Israel. "Carter comes off as an extremely thoughtful, intelligent person... The film also confirms that at least one reason Carter lost the 1980 election was his refusal to pander to extremist views and kneejerk reactions."

"At the age of 81, Carter seems more vigorous than many people half his age," blogs the Austin Chronicle's Marjorie Baumgarten. "The film is a revealing portrait... and is greatly enhanced by the original music contributions of Austin treasure Alejandro Escovedo, whose background guitar work and arrangements help provide a connective through-line for the movie. Escovedo's work as a rock & roller, orchestra conductor, and solo musician all coalesce in this project, and offer great promise for Demme's next documentary project, which is reported to be a film about Escovedo that will be shot in Austin. Can't wait."

Updated through 9/22.

"Despite Carter's reputation as a wimpy chief executive, he's pretty tough when it comes to making his arguments understood and dispelling other people's distortions," writes the Chicago Reader's JR Jones. "[T]he movie covers a lot of ground, including not only the ex-president's upbringing in Plains but his 1980 electoral defeat to Ronald Reagan, his ultimate vindication with the Nobel peace prize, and the Carters' recent work with Habitat for Humanity building homes in New Orleans. At Ryerson, Carter recalled that their last building project was supposed to take five days, but after Brad Pitt showed up to help, they had so many volunteers that they were finished in four."

"It's fascinating during Demme's doc to see the implacable faces that question Carter, with respect, but with the determination to prove him wrong," writes Anne Thompson.

"'I fervently support Israel's security, but it's counterproductive for them to persecute the Palestinians,' summarized Carter in Toronto." Brian Brooks and Peter Knegt report in indieWIRE on the appearance by the fest's special guest.

As Eric D Snider notes at Cinematical, the film picked up three awards in Venice: "The international critics' jury give the film its top award, while the Human Rights Film Network gave it a prize for best feature film. It also received the Collateral Award for Best Biography, which is presented by the Bologna Film Festival in conjunction with the Venice fest."

Update, 9/22: "Carter's 'constituents' here are his eager readers and his mostly-Jewish critics," notes David D'Arcy in Screen Daily. "His job is to make his arguments exciting and acceptable as he moves through media interviews from New York to Los Angeles, and exciting is not a word that describes Jimmy Carter well. Nor is he a particularly good advocate for his own positions, which was Carter's crucial flaw as president. Two hours with the well-meaning man is very long."

Posted by dwhudson at September 21, 2007 12:09 PM