Al Franken: God Spoke

Al Franken first came to notice as a comedian on Saturday Night Live, though lately he has become a noted political satirist and best-selling author of books such as Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot (you can’t argue with that) and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. The film follows Franken through the lead up to the 2004 U.S. presidential elections as he crosses satirical swords with an array of right-wing commentators including Michael Medved, who frequently denounces Hollywood as a bunch of anti-American liberals. Keen to disabuse Americans of the notion that the Almighty is the exclusive property of the Bushists, Franken sees it as his god-given mission to take on right-wing talkradio's "simplistic black-and-white babble about the way the world works." Cinema verité documentarists Hegedus (the wife and longtime collaborator of D.A. Pennebaker who executive produces) and Doob who recently made the acclaimed concert-doc Down From the Mountain, catch every throbbing vein in every temple as they record the high stakes of satire.

I take what they say and use it against them. What I do is jujitsu. They say something ridiculous and I subject them to scorn and ridicule. That’s my job.

Al Franken