48. The Final Year; movie review

THE FINAL YEAR
Cert 12A
90 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language

Just imagine giving every sinew of effort over many years to changing the world for the better, only to see all your perceived achievements undone in a matter of months.
The most telling moment of Greg Barker's The Final Year is when Barack Obama's speech writer Ben Rhodes is asked to comment on election night.
Rhodes, never short of pithy opinion, is literally lost for words. He tries several times to respond but he simply cannot.
I was surprised he and his colleagues were not in tears having deftly pushed forward an agenda surrounding climate change, world peace and promoting mutual respect only for Donald Trump to take office.
The Final Year is a fly-on-the-wall documentary which follows the Obama White House team and  includes direct contributions from the former president but mainly focuses on Rhodes, his Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, Samantha Power, his Ambassador to the United Nations, Secretary Of State, John Kerry and National Security Susan Rice.
It follows them all over the world as they struggle to resolve the Syrian crisis, improve relations with Cuba, get the best deal at the Paris Agreement and attempt to stop the increase of the influence of Boko Haram in Africa.
I was interested by the encouragement of conflicting views and the acceptance of consensus among the team.
The impression one gets from the first year of the Trump presidency is that disagreement results in the sack.
Anyway, Power and Rhodes admit to regular spats over the direction of foreign policy, particularly towards Syria.
The documentary suggest that Rhodes tended to get his way - possibly because he was Obama's closest confidante but also, I fear, because he is seen to shout loudest.
The access granted to Barker is really impressive. Cameras are seen in Air Force One, the West Wing and during myriad foreign trips as well as in the officials' respective home environments.
However, anyone who is expecting to see unguarded moments will be disappointed. With the exception of Rhodes speechlessness on election night, this is very much what the Obama camp wants to be portrayed.
Therefore, on one hand it is an interesting insight into how foreign policy is put together but it does not address domestic issues and only touches on questionable policies.
As a journalist, I found it engaging without being enthralling.

Reasons to watch: it is of historical importance
Reasons to avoid: it misses out domestic issues and is not really 'warts and all'

Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 7/10

Director quote - Greg Barker “One of my favorite docs was The War Room about the Clinton campaign and I had this crazy idea: Could I do a film like that, about government, but in reverse? So, how do people finish?"

The big question - Did Obama take his eye of the ball on domestic policy?

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