James Pethokoukis at the Capital Commerce column over at US News & World Report has a short article titled, “The Greatest Economics Film Ever.” Care to guess what it is? Being There. While I very much enjoyed Being There, I’m not sure I would call it the greatest economics film EVER! But I’ll leave that debate to the economists.
However, the article did get me thinking about the best political movies ever. Let me narrow the parameters a bit. The movie has to be about American politics (so no Gandhi) and no documentaries (so no Eyes on the Prize or The War Room). So, with those constraints, here’s my list by chronological order.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Meet John Doe (1941), State of the Union (1948), All the King’s Men (1949), Advise and Consent (1962), Manchurian Candidate (1962 and 2004), Dr. Strangelove (1962), The Best Man (1964), Fail Safe (1964), The Candidate (1972), All the President’s Men (1976), JFK (1991), Bob Roberts (1992), Nixon (1995), Wag the Dog (1997), Primary Colors (1998), Thirteen Days (2000), The Contender (2000), Good Night Good Luck (2005).
I’m sure that I’m missing some obvious movies, but there it is.