TL;DR
Greg Whiteley plays it safe in this documentary about Mitt Romney leaving a collection of footage about Mitt Romney and his family that is slightly interesting at best.
Synopsis
For six years, filmmaker Greg Whiteley had an exclusive unprecedented access to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his family. He was able to follow his family through his first run at the republican primaries during the 2008 election and then resumed filming during Mitt Romney’s presidential run in 2012.
Review
With the advent of great Netflix original content like The Square, I was excited to hear about the exclusive Netflix documentary Mitt. An overview of a presidential candidate spanning six years is an incredible concept. It is a chance to take a peek behind the curtain of politics and gain an understanding of those involved. Greg Whiteley used this opportunity to get a peek not into the war room, but the family room of Mitt Romney. He largely avoids the political aspect of a very political moment to get a unique perspective of how Mitt Romney and his family deals with the pressures of two presidential campaigns.
If you were going into this movie looking into unique insights on the most notable political highlights of the 2012 election you will find yourself notable disappointed at this documentary. The highlights of the political discussion involve the 47% video and the debates with President Obama. The reactions that Greg Whiteley films from these events seem to offer no personal insights into the situation. Instead the story focuses on the frustrations of the family, and the support they give Mitt Romney.
This highlights the major flaw with this film. By choosing to highlight the times when Mitt’s family supported him through good and bad times it loses any of the edge which may have made the film interesting. The film avoids any of the situations that show any of the flaws and eccentricities that make a compelling story. I left the film with a better understanding of Mitt Romney’s supportive family, but not of the man himself. Which for a documentary titled ‘Mitt’ is not what I was looking for.
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