Spotlight on Cucalorus: Al Franken: God Spoke

Day 2 of Cucalorus, and the documentaries keep on coming. The Al Franken biopic God Spoke was definitely more lighthearted fare compared to last night's proceedings, but it was still a very fun and very entertaining movie.

When Saturday Night Live alum Al Franken became the target of right-wing radio and TV personalities (maybe it's 'cause he named his first book Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot?), it set off an endless string of debates and yelling contests, usually between Franken and any combination of Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Bill O'Reilly. Especially Bill O'Reilly. After O'Reilly and Fox News raised a ruckus over what they believed to be copyright infringement (Fox claimed a trademark on the words "fair and balanced," which were part of the title of Franken's new book), the courts threw out the case and Franken laughed all the way to the bank as the free publicity shot his book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, to the top of the Amazon.com Best Sellers list.

The film begins with the release of Franken's book and the backlash it received, follows Franken as he haphazardly jumpstarts the first liberal radio station, Air America Radio (which, sadly, has since declared bankruptcy), and as he follows the Kerry campaign during the election of 2004. It's hard to watch the scenes where Franken seems so optimistic about Kerry's certain victory, knowing what surely lies ahead. And filmmakers Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus pull no punches. They show Franken's meltdown after Bush's re-election, ultimately leading to his decision to possibly run for Senate in Minnesota during the 2008 elections.



What I enjoyed most about this film is what I enjoy most about Franken: his sense of humor. He can always turn any depressing political situation into a scathing, satirical one-liner. Even when he's calling out radio personality Michael Medved or going one-on-one with Sean Hannity, he keeps his cool and lets the facts do the talking. Especially hilarious are his bits from Saturday Night Live, notably one in which Franken, as his Stuart Smalley character, consoles a depressed, post-election Al Gore. Also worth mentioning are his USO appearances in Iraq, one of which appears in the film. Franken, dressed as Saddam Hussein, tries to hit on JAG actress Karri Turner. Unfortunately, not much more of his USO tour is shown in the film, which is sad, because if his article about the tour, "Tearaway Burkas and Tinplate Menorahs," is any indication, there's a lot of extra material that's a whole lot funnier. I highly recommend anyone interested in more information on Franken to read that article, which can be found in the 2005 edition of The Best American Nonrequired Reading.

Overall, a solid documentary about a very funny man. For more information on the film, visit www.godspokefilm.com.