Al Franken: God Spoke

Most of Al’s adversaries take his in-your-face confrontations in stride, with the notable exception of the humorless Coulter who remains rabid even when the TV cameras have been turned off.

DVD REVIEW

Al Franken fans are the intended audience for this light-hearted look at the political landscape during which the left-leaning comedian devotes most of his time annoying familiar right-wing media-darlings, from Bill O’Reilly to Sean Hannity to Ann Coulter to Henry Kissinger.

Most of Al’s adversaries take his in-your-face confrontations in stride, with the notable exception of the humorless Coulter who remains rabid even when the TV cameras have been turned off.

The documentary captures Franken in both friendly and hostile environs, in the studio at Air America at one extreme, covering the 2004 Republican Convention inside Madison Square Garden at the other. This uncritical bio-pic presents its subject as more of an intrepid intellectual on a mission than a funnyman in search of laughs, leaving one to wonder whether the purpose here was to makeover Al’s into a political figure for his rumored run for the U.S. Senate in his native Minnesota.

But such an image overhaul is probably totally unnecessary. Afterall, if the state would elect Jesse “The Body” Ventura, a pro wrestler, why not Al “The Mouth” Franken, a stand-up comic?


Very good (3 stars).  Unrated.  Running time: 84 minutes.  Studio: Docudrama

To subscribe to or advertise in New York’s leading Pan African weekly investigative newspaper, please call (212) 481-7745 or send a note to [email protected]

 

“Speaking Truth To Empower.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *