Al Franken has always been a funny guy. In recent years, he has focused his satirical humor on politics, namely at Republicans. Filmmakers Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus track his journey through the world of political satire in the engaging documentary, “Al Franken: God Spoke.” The duo followed Franken for two years beginning with his feud with Republican TV host Bill O’Reilly over the title of his book “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.” Most of the film focuses on his fledging radio show, “The Al Franken Show” (formerly known as “The O’Franken Factor”), which coincidentally began in a presidential election year. The film ends with Franken contemplating running for senator of Minnesota in 2008. This film has a lot going for it. The timing could not be more ideal. It is opening today at the Dallas Angelika during a time when more people are fed up with the war in Iraq; there is a scare of secret government surveillance (just think about how freaked out college students were about the rather innocuous News Feed on Facebook) and our government seems to have been using questionable tactics regarding detainees. The Republicans in the movie even come across negatively. Doob and Hegedus visually apply their subject’s job description of “taking what [Republicans] say and [using] it against them.” Yes, this is a Democratic-propagandizing vehicle, and filmmakers can edit to put people in a bad light. However, students should be reminded of a certain Genius’s answer when asked about his negative portrayal on the TV show, “Treasure Hunters.” Charles Taylor replied, “Whatever you saw, we had to have done.”Thus, the film’s favorite target, conservative commentator Ann Coulter, must have really been so inattentive, bored out of her mind and just plain unprofessional in her debate with Franken. According to Franken, in a recent phone interview, Coulter actually made the filmmakers “cut out [a portion of her] side of the debate.” She really should have made them cut every scene of her. Audiences will agree with Franken that what is shown, which he claims “the filmmakers didn’t take out of context,” makes her look “kind of stupid.”Franken said he didn’t have enough time to help put together the finished product, and that is a good thing. Doob and Hegedus keep the hour and a half long movie moving at a brisk pace. Audiences are whisked from events to debates to conventions. The majority of insights into Franken are through his speaking gigs. He may be primarily known for being a hilarious comedian, but he is obviously and sincerely frustrated with the current political atmosphere.It was touching and eye-opening to see how passionate people, not just Franken, can be about their politics. People weep in hopes that a liberal radio station will be successful. It’s a really big deal to them.There are some scenes that could have been edited out. Surely, there was more important footage than of Franken trying to free his bag from a chair. Worst of all, they do not even show us how it all plays out. Did they finally cut it down or did someone actually untie it? The best, retrospectively bizarre sequences track Franken as he campaigns tirelessly for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. His intensity is infectious, his ardor obvious. This man is on a mission. You start to wonder how anyone could lose with support from such a charismatic, zealous campaigner. Then you realize Franken is really campaigning against Bush. Kerry never makes an appearance in these scenes, and Franken utters his name only once in the footage shown. Republican pundits, on the other hand, make so many cameos that they constitute top billing spots after the title character. Their usually heated exchanges with Franken give the documentary spark. People love nasty confrontations.As with most political debates between extremists, no one wins and nothing is settled. When sober, Franken genuinely seems to want to talk things out. At parties, Franken just likes to joke. Other times, his sparring partners become disappointingly distracted. Clips from actual funny “Saturday Night Live” skits are included to provide background on Franken’s early career as a comic. Even young audience members will laugh out loud. Ironically, the same man that got his start on a television show cites “watching too much TV” as a reason why many young people today are politically apathetic. The other explanations he lists are “lack of curiosity” and “not understanding that [politics] affect their future.” Like most politically slanted films, “Al Franken: God Spoke” will probably not convert those who do not want to be converted. Still, Franken is hopeful.”The film might make people look at O’Reilly differently. We have also Coulter saying the war is going really well at a point when it obviously wasn’t and not a lot of people were acknowledging it. I think if you see Michael Medved clearly making stuff up, [audiences] might say, ‘Oh, I see what [Republicans] do.'” Audience members who reach this conclusion may also arrive at a similar assessment of Franken that he did after watching the movie. “I was very nervous…but then I saw it and I thought, ‘I’m a terrific guy. I am wonderful.'”

Christy Vutam is a sophomore Journalism major. She can be reached at [email protected].