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Jimmy Carter Man from Plains
Sony Pictures Classics

6.1 based on 22 reviews Read critic reviews How did we calculate this? based on 6 votes Read user comments Rate this movie

FILM:

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MPAA RATING: PG for some thematic elements and brief disturbing images

Starring Jimmy Carter, and Rosalynn Carter

Jimmy Carter Man From Plains is an intimate, surprising encounter with President Jimmy Carter. Following the path of Mr. Carter's recent controversial book tour for Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, director Jonathan Demme reveals a complex individual who, with the gusto and determination of a youngster, criss-crosses the country to get his message across, even as that message creates a media onslaught in which his credibility and judgment are called into question. Jimmy Carter Man From Plains explores both the private and public sides of Jimmy Carter, whose intense sense of justice compels him to pursue, with undiminished energy and hope, his lifelong and deeply spiritual vision of reconciliation and peace. (Sony Pictures Classics)

GENRE(S):	Documentary
WRITTEN BY:	Jonathan Demme
DIRECTED BY:	Jonathan Demme
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 25, 2008  Theatrical: October 26, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	120 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

An intriguing document, and the first significant film ever made about a former U.S. president.

83

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

It's galvanizing to see it played out through the furious contradiction of Carter's personality. He is pious, stubborn, compassionate, testy, moral, unreasonable, and wise.

80

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The portrait of Carter has been described as hagiography, but it isn't a stretch to view his quiet integrity as saintly next to the track records of his successors.

75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Shows a man whose beliefs, both political and religious, seem to reinvigorate him; he even carries his own luggage in airports and hotels.

75

Boston Globe Ty Burr

A documentary that falls somewhere between overlong and compelling as it follows the 39th president on his controversial book tour.

75

USA Today Claudia Puig

Though not exactly a valentine to the octogenarian Nobel Peace Prize winner, the film is a lovingly rendered, candid and intimate portrait.

75

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's a remarkably intimate look at the man and his thinking, and you wish for more history to flesh out the biographical aspects of his life.

70

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

I'm still not quite sure why it's so compelling. I think this movie's appeal is overdetermined, as we used to say in sophomore Marxist-theory class, meaning that it derives from so many sources you can't keep track of them all.

67

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

These may be the qualities of a great man, but they're not exactly the stuff of a great documentary subject, especially given how hard Carter works to defuse the emotions stirred up by his book.

63

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

There is no doubting Jonathan Demme's admiration for our 39th President: It's apparent from the opening scenes.

63

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The minutiae of Carter's book tour isn't always enthralling, but his personality drives the film: pious, stubborn, devoted to his wife, curious, professional, warm and yet slightly removed from the fray, conciliatory, meticulous, self-effacing, funny, decent, intellectually rigorous and firmly committed to his positions.

60

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Uncritical, but not unaffecting.

50

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

Man From Plains isn’t about engagement; it’s about disengagement from Mr. Carter’s critics and his more provocative beliefs. It’s also about legacy building.

50

The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett

Blandly interesting.

50

Variety Ronnie Scheib

Thanked and vilified from coast to coast, Carter remains steadfast in his belief that Israel's policies in the Occupied Territories are unjust and counterproductive.

50

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

This narrowly cast documentary focuses so exclusively on a publicity tour the former president took in the closing months of 2006 that a more accurate title might be "Jimmy Carter How I Sold My Book."

50

Chicago Tribune Sid Smith

Carter comes off as compassionate and intelligent. But the complex issues brought up in his book don’t get much more than a superficial debate.

50

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

The movie doesn't offer much new to anyone familiar with Carter.

50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

A bit of a docu-mess.

50

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Jimmy Carter documentary is a smug, self-righteous monologue.

40

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Demme's documentary portrait, Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains, has no surfeit of good intentions. In fact, running over two hours, they're nearly suffocating.

25

New York Post Kyle Smith

There isn't enough revealing material in the tedious documentary Jimmy Carter Man From Plains to sustain an 800-word magazine profile, let alone a two-hour film.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.1 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chad S. gave it a7:
Former president Jimmy Carter was still in office when Carl Reiner's "The Jerk" played in first-run theaters. Navin R. Jackson(Steve Martin) hailed from the south(Mississippi), and was a white boy raised by a black family, just like former president Carter, a Georgia boy, who although not adopted like Cat Juggler, was looked after by an African-American woman named Rachel, a sharecropper, during his formative years in Plains. When the ex-president visits Darfur, he wears the traditional Sudanese clothing, and dances, badly, to the Sudanese beat, albeit not so in a condescending fashion, because this Nobel Peace Prize-winning octogenarian feels a genuine ease around black people. But Carter has the rhythm of ex-Laker Mark Madsen(best ESPN highlight, ever!), as does Navin, when he claps in time to the songs of his adopted family. Jimmy Carter is not a jerk. "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" is not a racist book. Read it. Or more to the point, buy it. This documentary is more about commerce than art. There's no way of getting around it, "Jimmy Carter: Man From the Plains" does play like an informercial for his hardcover bestseller about Israel's totalitarian-like occupation of Palestinian homelands. But the film also speak volumes of the pervading anti-intellectualism that's dumbing down our culture, in which people will make vicious attacks on a person's character without any substantiation to back up their opening salvos and thrown gauntlets.

Rob S. gave it a0:
Terrorist enabler, blame America 1st, giving away our territory (Panama Canal), appointing the most radical leftist Attorney General in history (Ramsey Clark), oh and don't let me forget his cowardly handling of our hostages in Iran. How dare they make a propaganda piece reinventing this man to something he never was or incapable of being. PS he's also antisemitic.

Jay H. gave it an8:
Impressive documentary of a very impressive former president. Very thought provoking and portrays a neutral viewpoint. I believe Jimmy Carter will go down in history as one of the greatest presidents ever, and this film shows why.

Alex Z. gave it a4:
This movie strictly preaches to the choir. Carter was one of the worst presidents in US History. But now as an elder statesman a little revionist History can't hurt.

Julie M. gave it a9:
Pieced together from footage of the months following the release of Carter's controversial book, Palestine, the movie gives a behind the scenes view of Carter, in his 80's, boldly welcoming the chance to meeth with his critics--a natural peace-broker. In one shot, his publicist suggests asking that the media not be invited to a particularly hostile meeting with critics. Carter says simply that he does not care if the media is there or not. The movie easily drew me in, and, as the criticism and accusations became more angry and more personal, it had me on edge watching his pain and waiting to see how he would hold up. The best parts were hearing Carter's heartfelt, precise, respectful, and exceedingly intelligent explanations to his critics. (Reminds of of Bill Clinton). When asked if his choice of book title won't hurt his cause, he ponders and answers honestly, "Maybe," but then explains his decision. Priceless, too, were the shots of Carter interacting warmly with everyone he met, even strangers on a plane--he genuinely loves people. Of course, you also get snippets of his past triumphs--most notablly, brokering peace between Egypt and Israel--and difficulties, and his humble beginnings in Georgia. He was also surprisingly funny. I look forward to watching the movie again.

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