Cheap The Distinguished Gentleman (DVD) (Jonathan Lynn) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of The Distinguished Gentleman

A Modern Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
As some wiseman once observed, if Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was made in the 1990s, it would be The Distinguished Gentleman. In many ways, both movies tell the same story, which shows how little the film industry and probably the American people's impression of Congressional politics has changed over fifty years. In The Distinguished Gentleman, the United States Congress is shown to be an assembly of self-interested career politicians whose ultimate goal is to stay in power. Congressmen are portrayed as being the greatest of conmen, who have learned how to ally themselves with political action committees and reap great benefits in the guide of representing the American people. Any action that may benefit the people but harm the special interests, such as the effect an investigation of the connection between power lines and cancer clusters would have on the power companies, will be obstructed by the politician who needs the special interests' support. <
> <
>A major element of the story, one which is not present in Mr. Smith, is election politics. The protagonist, Thomas Jefferson Johnson, is a conman who discovers the potential wealth in being a Congressman. He learns that name recognition is a more powerful tool than the issues in a campaign. Since he has the same name as recently deceased Congressman Jeff Johnson from his district, and people will overwhelmingly vote for the incumbent, whose name they recognize, they will elect Thomas unwittingly. His initial goal is to abuse the system, like the Congressmen around him, to get as much money as possible. Unlike Jefferson Smith, who begins as a simple man whose naivete gets shaken, Thomas Johnson begins as a opportunist who gets a conscience. Thomas' conscience comes in the form of a beautiful woman, Celia Kirby, and a sick girl who are fighting hopeless cause against the powerful power company. <
> <
>Olaf Anderson is the head of the power company, which is the special interest, or the Tim Taylor political machine of this movie. As a special interest, the power company supplies great amounts of money to Congressmen in return for them acting favorable toward the power company. Celia and the families being harmed by the power company cannot match the financial power of the special interests. Dick Dodge, the chairman of the Power and Industry committee and the Joseph Paine of this story, takes any and all measures to ensure the protection of the power company, and the power company will reciprocate. Dodge takes Thomas as a pupil, showing him how easily the benefits of Congress can be reaped if one is willing to be unscrupulous, and in this way Dodge is even more forthcoming in admitting his corruption than Paine was. When Thomas tries to open an investigation and help the people, Dodge and Anderson first try to persuade, then bribe, and finally intimidate him into staying out of the way of the special interests. Thomas will eventually win the day by using his abilities as a conman for the common good instead of his own self-interest. <
> <
>This movie perhaps portrays Congress in an even more cynical fashion than Mr. Smith did, giving a larger portion of the corruption to the Congressmen and a less-evil but just as self-interested role to the special interests. Again, as in Mr. Smith, the power concentrated in the special interests reduces the sovereign power of the people, portraying more of an aristocracy than a democracy. As a critique on the abuses of modern democracy, The Distinguished Gentleman shows how American democracy is constructed in a manner which allows for functionality and flexibility to serve the people, but that it can easily be corrupted by those who chose to take advantage of its flexibility. While Mr. Smith portrayed this perversion to be more of an exception to contrast Smith's altruism, The Distinguished Gentleman portrays this corruption as be the general rule, predominant among Congressmen. The message is the same, however: The people of the United States need to decide if they are going to allow the type of corruption that people widely believe is present in Congress in reality, to forfeit their representation or to take action. People need to pay closer attention to what is going on, both in election campaigns and once their Congressmen are in office, and hold those people who are supposed to represent them accountable for their actions, which is an even more empowering and activist position than in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Because The Distinguished Gentleman was even created, it can be argued that people had not yet heeded Frank Capra's warning and needed to be reminded. We will, no doubt, continue to see more movies with this theme.

---

disappointing but has some moments.
I am a political junky AND an Eddie Murphy fan and I had great expectations for this movie. And for the most part the first half has pretty interesting and entertaining. But the script bogged down and just flattened out towards the end. EM still makes it fun to watch. This is a rental, not a purchase.

Boy, politicians should have been great fodder for a comedy but this movie missed its potential

---

Subtle Humor with Few Belly Laughs
It is tempting to compare this movie to other political satires of previous years. However, it is at heart an Eddie Murphy movie, and you know that Eddie Murphy is always over the top.

The plot is relatively simple. Eddie Murphy is a small-time con artist. Having recently overheard a conversation between several lobbyists and a congressman, Eddie realizes that (in his opinion) being a congressman is the biggest con of all. One day he happens to be in the right place at the right time when a congressman with virtually the same name as his dies. Eddie runs for election to replace the dead congressman with his only platform being that "you know the name". You must know that Eddie wins in a landslide.

Eddie's initial goal is to figure out how he can get as much money as possible. However, as is the case with all con artists, their undoing is when they begin to care. In Eddie's case, his undoing is a beautiful woman and a little girl diagnosed with cancer. The combination of the two makes Eddie care about someone other than himself, and you see Eddie change from that point.

Lane Smith plays Dick Dodge, a senior congressman on the powerful Power and Industry committee. Dick Dodge is a wheeler and dealer who knows all the ins and outs of Washington, and the best way to wield power and profit from his position. Initially Eddie looks to Dick as a mentor. While Eddie initially identified with Dick Dodge, as Eddie discovers that there is a harmful side-effect on ordinary people by the actions of people such as Dodge, Eddie eventually uses his abilities to remove Dodge from power.

This movie is a bit more cerebral than Eddie's typical movies. "Trading Places" was generally slapstick and situational comedy. "Beverly Hills Cop" was one-liners and irony. The humor in this movie is often more subtle, and in some cases may be lost on some viewers. There are places in the movie where the humor is slapstick and one-liners, however, much of the humor is satirical and often harder to discern.

While this movie is certainly not Eddie's best, neither is it among his worst. There are places in the movie that are inspired. However, for every inspired part of the movie there are tired jokes and typical Washington political satire. Worth watching once, and collecting for the avid Eddie Murphy fan, this movie rates a low 4 stars.