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Health & Fitness

Jim Splaine: "Mitt" Is Worth The View!

"Mitt" has premiered on Netflix, and it is tube time well spent.  Okay, it's no "Star Trek," and just like "Titanic," we know the ending, but like them it has drama, mystery, a tad of comedy, and maybe a touch of fantasy in the blend. 

And, it's sort of a love story of two people.

The movie/documentary details the recent adventures of Mitt Romney, kind of starting with the lead-up to his 2008 race, then to his success in earning the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination. 

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For the political junkies among us, the movie has been well-anticipated, and it doesn't disappoint.  For anyone watching regardless of political party or interest, it gives a fascinating, revealing behind-the-scenes, back-room story of the toll that a major political campaign can have on a candidate and a family. 

And the intrigue of American politics cir. nowadays. 

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I didn't support Mitt Romney, and I surely don't agree with his policies or philosophies.  I also didn't cheer for the way he assembled his money through Bain Capital, with the merging of many businesses that the company bought and "reformed" or "sold" after skimming the top off them, breaking labor contracts, and firing many workers.  That's a brand of capitalism I don't buy into. 

To me, and this is confirmed by the movie, Mitt Romney seemed to be a rich man with a wealthy background who couldn't see "the rest of us" about whom my real political heroes like Carol Shea-Porter, Jeanne Shaheen, and Barack Obama care.

But, I can disagree with someone and yet respect the other qualities.  We all should.  Mitt Romney is obviously a dedicated family man, and that comes across in the movie.  While he's the star, his wife has the supporting cast role, and we learn about the special physical difficulties she had to bear on the campaign trail. 

We see their sons, whom I suspect they were banking their own futures and hopes of fame and more wealth on their father's success, but I guess that might be true of many families so it's hard to criticize that trait. 

One of the most tender moments is when Mitt describes how he was boosted in his own career path on the shoulders of his father -- who had been a Governor and himself ran for President.  Dads want that for their children. 

President Obama has a cameo role, which he plays well.  If you remember, he ended up the big winner.  Election night 2012 fills the final chapter, and actually that evening and the few days leading up to it packs about half the 1 hour 33 minutes of the movie. 

And no, I won't tell you the very end --  the final 90 seconds or so -- but it is a particularly and touching and reflective moment all in itself.

Like Mitt Romney or not, and whether politics is in your heart or is more considered by you less interesting or relevant to your life than the shine on your car's rear fender, "Mitt" is a movie that will give just about anyone a degree of entertainment, with a splash of education thrown in.

And except for one slightly shaded family joke (really quite pale -- this is the Romney family after all) and a term uttered by one of the sons which I'm sure Mom and Dad both prayed for forgiveness afterward, this movie is rated GAESWE.  That's "General Audience Even Skeptics Will Enjoy." 

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