Game Change (2012)

Plot: HBO Docudrama about Sarah Palin and the 2008 McCain POTUS campaign - based on the book of the same name.
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Ed Harris

Well done political hit piece on Sarah Palin released by HBO on the eve of the 2012 Presidental Primaries. Well acted and cast, the movie purports to be an accurate representation but of course isn't. Absurdly, Steve Schmidt, a medicore, selfish, political consultant (with dubious ethics) is made the hero of the story, and we see it all through his eyes.

Like any skilled piece of propaganda, the movie doesn't really lie, it simply leaves a lot of the truth out, and presents only one side. All the interactions between Palin and Schmidt on based on Schmidt's self-serving story of what happened. Played by Woody Harrelson, Schmidt is always the smartest man in the room, and also the most concerned about ethics and the country. If Palin does anything good, its because Schmidt had coached and told her what to do. If Palin does anything bad, its because she's failed to listen to Schmidt, or gives into her natural inclination to be lazy and dumb. For example:

• Palin gives a good convention speech. But that's only because Schmidt tells Palin what to say and how to say it.
• Palin holds her own in a TV debate with Biden. Why? Because Schmidt has Palin memorizes 40 minutes of Schmidt talking points so she can hide how dumb she is
• When Couric makes Palin look bad in a long interview, that's not because ABC edited the interview to make her look bad, or asked endless "Gotcha questions", no its because Palin refused to properly prepare as Schmidt demanded.

The hero worship of Schmidt reaches its highpoint at the end. Palin wishes to give a concession speech, but Schmidt will have none of it. He literally pulls the plug on her camera, and thunders that "He will not have the historic election of an African American sullied by self-serving speech by a VP candidate"

All the hero worship is required because Schmidt is the primary source for these Palin bashing scenes. He must be presented to the audience as the "Good Guy" so we will side with him over Palin. However this isn't really the whole truth.  Examples:

• Schmidt is shown at the very start as "saving" McCain's campaign after giving him sage advice on the "Surge". The movie presents the idea that McCain and Schmidt are very close and he's the man in charge. In fact, McCain and Schmidt barely knew each other, and Schmidt while running the campaign on a day to day basis, he was still working under Rick Davis. Further, McCain was constanly recieving advice from both John Weaver and his speech writer Mark Salter.
• Schmidt's attitude toward Palin is arrogant and patronizing. And Palin's refusal to take his direction is shown as petualant and childish. Left unmentioned is that Palin had been a popular state Governor for over 20 months. Why should Palin have been so respectful to an obscure Political consultant?
• Palin, correctly, didn't want to go on SNL.  However, Schmidt convinced her that she could gain votes by being a "Good Sport". 
• Palin had wanted to start out by doing the Limbaugh show, Sean Hannity, and conservative talk radio. Schmidt however demanded she start out by doing hostile interviews with liberal network anchors. 
• Also left unshown is Palin's incredible popularity with Republican voters and her massive, successful, campaign rallies and ability to raise money. None of these are shown.

Also note that while Schmidt is shown as super-ethical, in reality both he and Nicole Wallace were leaking anti-Palin information to the press. And according to others, Schmidt more or less gave up 10 days before the election, and spent most of his time at home or enjoying himself. This, along with divulging campaign secretes caused McCain to freeze him out. The two men only spoke twice in the 9 years from 2009 to 2018. Schmidt has now admitted he lied about McCain's affair with a lobbyist and didn't even vote for McCain!