This week’s Feed the Queue review is for the Henry Fonda political drama The Best Man. The rest are all television programs, including a second viewing of the miniseries Harper’s Island, the final episode of the fourth season of Dexter and the more episodes of the first season of Psych.

So, here is what I watched this weekend:

THE BEST MAN

With the recent mid-term elections finally at an end, with all its lies and mudslinging, a film like The Best Man plays like a fresh drink of water cleansing the palate of all the distasteful rhetoric. Set at a fictional presidential nomination convention in 1964, Henry Fonda plays William Russell, an idealized version of the model modern politician. He knows the issues, refuses to play dirty, but has a secret that might sink his campaign should it get out. Cliff Robertson plays his chief opponent Joe Cantwell, a ruthless southern politician ready to cut down, expose and vilify anyone who gets in his way. Cantwell and Russell spar like bitter rivals trying to make a play for national attention.

Former president Art Hockstader (Lee Tracy) is the kingmaker. His endorsement could mean a quick end to the nominating convention and both men are desperate for the attention. Privately, he has all but admitted to Russell that he won’t back him for the position because of his inability to make tough, unilateral decisions. Yet, while his plan is to endorse Cantwell, a conversation with his intended leads him to second guess his decision and not until the climactic pre-convention dinner reception do we find out if he will back Cantwell or return to his friend Russell and give him the nod. This isn’t the end of the film by any means as we get into the tense dramatics behind an open convention and the power brokering, jockeying and tough decisions that need to be made in order to clinch the nomination.

The key to watching and loving this film is not that these candidates are liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. It’s recognizing a blood thirsty politician ready to do anything to win, including release a stolen psychological profile on his opponent that would reveal his past nervous breakdown, and a conscientious one who can’t decide whether to betray his principles and reveal damning information in his possession or stand up for what he, and the audience, believes is the right thing and fight the battle fairly.

Fonda is probably the best actor that could have been chosen to play this role. After years of portraying generous, kind-spirited men who always sought fairness and equality between all men, William Russell is the charismatic vessel he was born to inhabit. Robertson does a wonderful job as Fonda’s foil, checking him at never move and seldom letting the audience get behind his strict veneer of entitlement. For someone who came from nothing and pulled himself up by the bootstraps, Robertson conveys Cantwell more like a spoiled wealthy brat than his opponent Russell who actually came from money. Tracy is a strong presence in the film, acting as the fulcrum between the two extremes, seeing value in both approaches, but attempting to tilt the balance towards the smarter, less ego-driven man.

Also of special note are two gifted actresses who make terrific work out of their brief bits of onscreen time. Ann Sothern plays a Sue Ellen Gamage, a woman constantly referring to what women do and do not want, yet feeling more like a regressive conservative trying to keep those she claims to represent from feeling too put off by the nasty business of politics. The other is Maragaret Leighton as Russell’s lovely, sensible wife Alice. She has few scenes in the film, but sets herself calmly down as the rock on which the foundation of life is built. Her husband has been sleeping around on her and although she’s ready to walk at a moment’s notice and her motive for staying is the potential for power, she conveys love and admiration for her husband despite her hurt and frustrated feelings. It’s that subtle supporting performance that too often is ignored as part of the the background.

Anyone watching this film today might look at it and wonder if there really are any politicians as noble and spirited as Russell as most have made themselves to be cutthroats like Cantwell. And it’s almost impossible to tell these days. The times of Mr. Smith going to Washington are probably long gone, but ideals can still mean something in the right hands. But would we recognize them if we saw them? In The Best Man, it’s easy to see where and why our faith should be placed, however in reality such decisions are nearly impossible. It’s a nice vision of how politics should be run. If every politician could mold themselves after Russell, perhaps the public wouldn’t be so disenchanted with, disheartened and disgusted by politics as usual.

HARPER’S ISLAND

I saw this miniseries back when it first aired in 2009. A combination murder mystery and horror slaughter fest, the story revolves around a group of wedding guests returning the island which, several years earlier, had seen the brutal slayings of several residents, including the mother of one of the more reticent attendees Abby Mills (Elaine Cassidy). As the 13-episode mini progressed, nearly every cast member found themselves victims of either a copycat of the killer from several years prior or the killer himself, who was thought to be dead, rising to finish what he started.

In grand style, the show wove intricate stories between each character crafting new and interesting connections between each while trying to envision inventive ways of slaughter without showing the actual deaths on screen. It’s probably one of the more forward thinking serial killer shows on broadcast TV where standards of violence are more strictly controlled. So, one of the most intriguing parts is watching just how much the network allowed to get through before becoming too intense. And intense it is. With one, two or sometimes three deaths per episode, it became a guessing game not only trying to figure out who the killer was but also who was going to die next. For the voyeuristic horror fan, it was quite a treat.

Yet, there were troubling aspects to the show that prevent it from achieving that rare cross between horror and critical excellence. The show shifted focus on who was the killer so many times that the decisions often became obvious, choosing first the tattooed loner, then the bitter islander, then the jealous philanderer and eventually to a resurrected serial killer. If more than two episodes went by without the attention changed from one culprit to another, it was a good span. The acting wasn’t particularly excellent, though Cassidy does quite a decent job, as do a number of the more minor characters. And with the plot reading like a soap opera on a number of occasions, it’s no surprise that younger actors would have such trouble with it. After all, this isn’t The Young & the Restless even if it wanted to try to be.

Moving the big screen slasher flicks to the small screen was a nice diversion and I enjoyed my time in Harper’s Island, it’s not a place I feel should be revisited too often. Once you know who the murderer or murderers are, some of the fun is drained out of it and while it’s interesting to try and watch their expressions throughout the show to see if you can find hints, it sometimes feels like the writers didn’t decide until nine or so episodes in what they had actually intended. And unlike classic psycho killer horror flicks like Psycho, Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street, this one doesn’t get better with repeat viewings.

DEXTER, season 4 finale

It’s a bit frustrating to discover that you have only one disc left in the season and that disk only has one episode on it. It’s how Dexter‘s fourth season is laid out and it also happens to be the final disk that gets delayed by a week because of the random work-through order of my Netflix queue. And, of course, the final episode is the one where we finally see Dexter Morgan catch his man, but not before potentially destroying our antihero’s life forever. I came into this season knowing about one particular death that would occur late in the season, so I’ve been dreading watching each episode believing it to be the one to perform the painful act, but it’s the very last episode that gets me. Not because I didn’t see it coming, but because it’s an unfortunate way to end things. And how anticlimactic can such a scene get when you know it’s coming. This is the key reason I never watched The Sixth Sense and get very frustrated with people who reveal important plot elements. So, I’ll just let you figure out what piece of information I came across by watching the show yourself and finding out the result.

There are plenty of twists still left in the final episode but, even without knowing the final answer, there’s something almost off-kilter about the final episode. As the series has progressed, we’ve learned more about Dexter Morgan and how he copes with life itself, but nearly every one features some major life-altering situation that makes even more drama for Michael C. Hall’s lovable serial killer. It’s almost like the character’s trying to grow and almost reaches some manner of revelation before being pushed back to square one. It makes for good drama and while I am somewhat enthused about such storytelling, it’s starting to wear on me for this series. The set ups for the seasons are also becoming less noticeable. Unlike True Blood, which starts very early in its season to prepare for the next, Dexter seems to decide at the last minute they need to get the audience stoked from the impending season and throws something in at the last minute. While I still enjoy Dexter and am interested to see how season 5 goes down and what wonders and new killer are in store, the worries of a diminished return are mounting. Thank goodness this season had the stupendous John Lithgow as an antagonist; otherwise, like the two seasons prior, this one might have ended my fascination with the show.

PSYCH, season 1

I am almost finished with the first season of Psych. The show has remained funny over the most recent three episodes I’ve watched, so it’s definitely a show I will continue watching. Some of the characters have finally started fleshing out and have become less one-dimensional, including the frequently frustrating Detective Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) who seems to be softening a bit towards lead Shawn Spencer (James Roday). It makes for nice chemistry, but not great antagonism. The minute we start liking the character, the vitriol dies down a bit and we have less pushback to our lead’s questionable methods. However, the stories still make up for that shortcoming. So far, only one episode have I really been a bit frustrated with when the actual culprit was supported by evidence, but made no logical sense. It seemed like a stretch to support a cool concept. But, with mostly enjoyable episodes so far, it’s still worth the effort.