Review of Death of a President (2006) by Grant S — 18 Jan 2016

Powerful, clever, original and very realistic.

A "documentary" of the assassination of George W Bush in 2007. Much of the footage is of actual Bush speeches and the like, cleverly spliced with staged material to make a fictional story. It fits together so smoothly and seamlessly you would not know.

That this is fiction.

Solid performances from the actors in the staged segments give this a very authentic feel.

Not just a good story, but a profound one too, one with great social and moral observations. It powerfully highlights the hysteria, irrationality and injustice that prevails in society, especially in reaction to a catastrophic event, and also the prejudices that exist.

I was expecting, with some trepidation, that this film was going to have some sort of political agenda, i.e that it would be a left-wing daydream or a right-wing attack on the opponents of Bush. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it is very well balanced and has no real political agenda.