Depressed by the outcome of the US Presidential election? Then take heart in this documentary, a candid film about George Bush that shows he isn't quite as stupid, or evil, as he's made out to be.
Journeys With George is the best kind of documentary. Something entirely accidental that was caught on film. As film begins, George Bush is campaigning to win the Republican nomination for President, long before he won the White House. As he campaigns, select members of the press follow him around, reporting what he is up to. One of them is Alexanda Pelosi, and she happened to bring a video camera.
There is no way that Pelosi could have known that Bush would win the nomination (at the time, John McCain looked the most likely candidate), and so the documentary seems to gain importance as it continues. Winning the nomination and becoming a Presidential candidate is the first step, and we see Bush evolve as he becomes increasingly Presidential over the course of the campaign.
What makes Journeys With George (the title is coined by Bush himself) so interesting is the look we get into Bush's life. This isn't Bush the President, or even Governor. It's Bush the man, and the difference is crucial. Take politics out of the equation, and the Bush on display here is a fairly likable guy. He isn't afraid to join in with the jokes that the other reporters have between themselves. He isn't afraid to laugh at himself. He isn't afraid to let his guard down. All of these moments are caught on camera, and for the first time, we see Bush as a person rather than a concept.
Pelosi though is slightly more annoying. She seems to like to put the camera on herself (quite a feat when she's the one holding it), and seems to have a smartass response for everything. There's nothing wrong with this in itself, but she does end up coming across as the cocky one of the pair, and Bush the more humble. She litters the film with stories about herself that have no real relevance to the topic at hand. We have a little sequence where she is ill, and spend a while on her crush on another reporter travelling with them. The only fun part of that is when Bush himself interjects between the two as some kind of pseudo-matchmaker.
Amongst all of this, politics rarely comes into it. We feel as though we're watching a road movie, albeit one that takes place mostly in the air. When on the rare occasions when politics do come into it, such as where Bush freezes Pelosi out for asking him a tough question, the matter is quickly resolved and we're back to the fun. As a comment on the media and how it is controlled, it works to some extent, as we see the reporters herded around and told to only go where Bush goes rather than finding stories, but I doubt that was Pelosi's intent.
All of this obviously looks very rough considering it was only shot on Pelosi's video camera. No real filming equipment was used, leaving us with a fairly poor quality picture, and sound that at times is almost unlistenable. This shouldn't detract from the film too much though, as for the vast majority of it, we're still fully aware of what is going on.
Journeys With George is slightly comforting for of us concerned over a second term of Bush, as we can see that despite the politics, there is a fairly reasonable guy behind it all. It's probably best not to look behind him to the others in his administration, but at least we get to see a kindler, gentler Bush that we could possibly have imagined.
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