Not surprisingly, those going to see “America” on Saturday morning at the Ontario Cinemark were directed to turn right and walk to the end of the hallway to enter the correct theater.
That’s because the new political documentary by Dinesh D’Souza is as far to the right as any feature film you will see this year.
The 103-minute effort is based on D’Souza’s new book by the same name and is a follow-up to his book/documentary “2016: Obama’s America.” As one might imagine, it presents a conservative viewpoint of the United States through history. As one might also imagine, it lacks greatly in production values.
As a political message, “America” delivers a strong message. As a movie, it’s a rough cut to sit through at times.
It certainly does not deliver what its previews suggested – a historical fable look at how the world might be if the United States never existed. Rather than a fanciful look at how things might have progressed without America, the film quickly settles into D’Souza’s thoughtful defense of four major claims the author/director feels have been wrongly made against the USA.
Those claims, made (according to D’Souza) by historical revisionists, social activists and community organizers, argue that the United States has been a predator nation, marked mostly by the genocide of Native Americans, mistreatment of Mexicans and blacks, and the theft of resources from other countries, creating Third World nations.
D’Souza lays out the arguments for each, using interviews from advocates of those positions, including Native American rights advocate Charmaine White Face. He also includes close looks at works done by historian Howard Zinn (“A People’s History of the United States) and leftist community organizer Saul Alinsky.
The film maker then spends the remainder of his movie explaining why none of the claims have merit. A great deal of what he suggests makes sense. But D’Souza would ask the audience to accept his arguments that the United States has made few, if any, mistakes in its nearly 250 years of existence. Some of it comes off as lame, such as claiming some blacks also owned slaves in the south (as if that made slavery somehow more palatable) and that the Civil War waged by the north was payment for those who had been enslaved on southern plantations.
Frankly, D’Souza could have fared better by admitting the United States has made its share of mistakes. Trying to whitewash the nation’s entire history simply is not realistic or honest. I think he fears giving the left even an inch to chew on against his beliefs. It makes his overall argument harder to swallow.
Not surprisingly, liberal movie critics and liberal media outlets are howling with indignation and outrage at the film – both from a technical movie-making aspect, as well as a political statement. Despite the harsh criticism from the left, the film enjoyed a solid opening weekend, perhaps improved by the fact it opened on Independence Day Weekend.
In fact, CinemaScore, a movie rating system known for predicting the commercial success of films, gave it an “A+” rating. That means CinemaScore believes “America” is expected to have a very profitable box office run.
This is a unique film, certainly unlike other lightweight summer fare at the movie house. Whether you agree with D’Souza or not, it’s a movie worth seeing.
Movie: “America: Imagine a World without Her”
Director: Dinesh D’Souza and John Sullivan
Rated: PG-13 due to violent images
Genre: Political documentary
Length: 103 minutes
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