Running Mates
This made-for-television movie featuring Tom Selleck as the Democratic nominee for president is thin on plot but benefits from its sharp portrayals of the ambience surrounding its fictitious Democratic convention in Los Angeles. The story involves whom Selleck's Governor Pryce will pick as his running mate as well as the candidate's relationships with various women in his life, played by Nancy Travis, Teri Hatcher, Laura Linney, and Faye Dunaway. While the plot at times seems extraneous, the cascade of cynical jokes and one-liners about politics in America, no doubt derived from the experiences of former political operative Gerald Rafshoon, who coproduced the film, keep the momentum going. Real-life pundits from CNN pop up on TV talking about the fictional characters (the film was originally shown on one of Ted Turner's entertainment channels), and the scenes at the fictitious political convention look real enough to be taken from network news clips. The film delivers insightful glimpses of how politicians travel, interact with their fractious staffs (and families), and occasionally startle everyone by taking a moral stand. Perhaps the best of many throwaway lines in the film is delivered by Teri Hatcher, playing a shallow Hollywood fundraiser who needs to find a celebrity to sing the national anthem: "No, Madonna would not be nice, she's too old and she doesn't wear clothes."--Robert J. McNamara