When husband and wife filmmakers Sheila Canavan and Michael Chandler first approached the Democratic Congressman for Massachusetts with the idea of making a documentary about him they just envisioned that it would simply cover his last year in Office prior to his retirement. They quickly discovered that there was a whole wealth of history and stories that needed to be told about Barney Frank, who is unquestionably one of the most colorful characters that the House of Representatives has ever seen, and hence they ended up making this very full and fascinating look at the man’s entire life : well the best (and worst) bits anyway.
His remarkable intellect and his quick grasp of the current political climate at any time helped his many successes both chairing the House Financial Services and being the Democrats front man during the Clinton Impeachment Hearings. But what shone through more here in the documentary was his acerbic wit and his rapid repartee that ran rings around lesser mortals like Kenneth Starr and any of the airheads that commentate for the Fox Channel. He endeared himself to the crowd (and to me) when out electioneering for the future Senator Elizabeth Warren when he tells them to vote Democratic and adds ‘we’re not perfect, but we’re not nuts.‘
The title of the movie is one Frank’s very favorite quips and something he ‘borrowed’ by an old comedian who coined it as a reply whenever he was asked ‘How’s your wife?’
P.S. I was fortunate enough to see this at the Provincetown International Film Festival which is hallowed territory for Frank. He is completely revered for what he did for the area and the friendships he made. The whole LGBT community also owe him a great deal of gratitude for his commitments to our struggle for equality. Its therefore hard not to be caught up in this wave of deep affection for this old-school politician, the likes of which we will probably never see again. Great man and a very fitting tribute to him too.
Labels: 2014, biography, documentary, gay, politics
