The film “2016: Obama’s America” might be the most unlikely box office success story of 2012.
The movie is a documentary that is harshly critical of President Barack Obama. It has no stars and isn’t backed by a major studio. It was produced for just $2.5 million. Yet, during its first weekend of wide release two weeks ago, it was the No. 7 movie in the country.
“2016” beat out several major studio films that weekend, including “Hit and Run,” which had seemingly been advertised on television during every commercial break on every channel in the month before its release. Last weekend, “2016” was the No. 8 movie. Through Wednesday, it was the No. 3 movie in the U.S. at the box office. It has earned a little more than $20 million since its premiere on one screen in Houston, Texas, on July 13.
The movie is co-directed, written, narrated and “stars” Dinesh D’Souza, a former staffer for President Ronald Reagan who is now president of King’s College in New York. He’s the author of several books, including “The Roots of Obama’s Rage,” the basis for “2016.”
D’Souza’s thesis is that Obama’s beliefs are rooted in the anti-colonialism of his late father, a Kenyan academic who was largely absent from the president’s life. The film also makes ominous predictions about the future of America if Obama is re-elected in November.
Not surprisingly, reviews for the movie have been overwhelmingly negative. The New York Times’ Andy Webster called the movie “strident.” Is that in contrast with the even-handed approach left-wing documentary maker Michael Moore took in “Fahrenheit 9/11”?
The makers of “2016” mounted a lengthy and stealthy publicity campaign that was boosted by positive reviews from conservative radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. I first heard about the movie about a month ago when D’Souza was interviewed on comedian/Fox New pundit Dennis Miller’s show.
When I went to Madison last week to see my father, a fan and faithful listener of Limbaugh’s show, he asked me to find out if “2016” was playing in the Jackson area. It was showing at Madison’s theater.
We went on Labor Day afternoon. The matinee we attended played to a nearly full house. That came as no surprise. Madison is definitely not Obama country.
I had heard some of what was in “2016,” but other parts were news to me.
The movie paints an unflattering portrait of the president’s father, Barack Obama Sr. He was a bigamist (he was married to a woman in Kenya when he married Obama’s mother), an alcoholic and, according to one of his daughters, an abusive spouse and parent.
D’Souza also focuses on Obama’s “founding fathers” or mentors: They include a Communist journalist, Obama’s controversial former pastor, a man who tried to blow up the U.S. Capitol and Pentagon, an anti-Israel academic and an anti-capitalist law professor and politician. These men also shaped Obama’s “anti-American” views, D’Souza says.
D’Souza tracks Obama’s life story through Hawaii, Indonesia and Kenya. Along the way, the movie uses too many re-enactments.
One thing he never shies away from is hyperbole. When Obama’s relatives in Kenya decide that they don’t want to talk with D’Souza, he suggests that his life and those of his film crew were in danger.
This movie is not a comedy, but I laughed during D’Souza’s interview of George Obama, the president’s younger half-brother in Kenya. The interview contains awkward moments for both D’Souza and, I imagine, President Obama.
One of the filmmakers’ choices bothered me. Twice, D’Souza interviews people by cellphone. This struck me as a purely cinematic device. It also means that unless a film crew was with the interviewer and interviewee at the same time — highly unlikely — one of them had to re-enact his lines. Again, I don’t like re-enactments in a documentary.
The Associated Press’ Beth Fouhy wrote an article pointing out factual errors in “2016.” This statement by her puzzled me: “The assertion that Obama’s presidency is an expression of his father’s political beliefs ... is almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best.”
Is Fouhy trying to say there’s such a thing as an objective movie? Every movie, documentary or not, has a point of view. Every movie is subjective.
The movie correctly points out that the national debt has risen to $16 trillion under Obama. The deficit and the 8.3 percent unemployment rate are the numbers that could derail Obama in November, regardless of how many tickets “2016” sells.
• Contact Charles Corder at 581-7241 or ccorder@gwcommonwealth.com.
