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Come on, man … Those who have found the scandals surrounding the Bidens — and not just Hunter — fascinating will find themselves amused by this irreverent comedy My Son Hunter. “None of this is true,” Gina Carano informs us while playing a Secret Service protection agent, “except for all the facts.”
The new offering from Breitbart Films, Phelim McAleer, and director Robert Davi places tongue firmly in cheek for most of the proceedings. Very early on, a drugged-out Hunter (Laurence Fox) encounters a small dog at an orgy, who proceeds to warn him via thought bubbles that maybe he’s getting used by his entourage. Joe Biden (John James) lectures Hunter about the risks to his “erection.” A hooker with a heart of gold attempts to run Hunter’s PR strategy. The Big Guy shows up in a red cape to exercise his superhero powers in Hunter’s business deals in China.
Clearly, this is not cinema verité.
Instead, it’s a kind of cross between the sensibilities of Sin City and Inglorious Basterds, only with a very clear political didactic. It’s a cinematic version of a graphic novel covering Biden Inc’s greatest alleged corruption hits. It reminds me in that way of Peter Schweizer’s graphic-novel version of his exposé of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Clinton Cash — a way to use an irreverent and hyperbolic art form to make a political point.
The Federalist made an important point about that approach six years ago:
Two weeks ago “Clinton Cash: The Graphic Novel” accomplished an amazing feat by knocking “The Killing Joke,” the origin story of the Joker, out of its 200-week streak of being number one on The New York Times bestseller list. “Clinton Cash: The Graphic Novel” debuted at number one in the hardcover graphic novel category and reached number five overall on Amazon’s bestseller list.
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Like the original book by Peter Schweizer, “Clinton Cash: The Graphic Novel” lays out the Clintons’ pattern of corruption. The graphic novel is exposing a wider audience to Schweizer’s research, and if political and media leaders on the Right take notice it could also help them defeat the Left beyond 2016.
The idea in My Son Hunter is similar. The clear intent here is not to make a film along the lines of The English Patient, or perhaps more relevantly, W, which crammed a bunch of left-wing talking points into a sorta-biopic of George W. Bush and his family. It’s to make an entertaining vehicle that moves the dry nature of corruption issues into a mainly humorous platform/art form to expand the audience for the story.
Davi and McAleer (a personal friend of mine, for full disclosure) have crafted a series of scenes into a narrative that intends to highlight various allegations and provable charges involving Hunter, Joe, and business dealings in Ukraine and China, among other issues. It introduces the questions of Hunter’s laptops — a major element in the story line — and other sources of disclosure to note the creepy silencing of this issue in 2020. For the most part, though, Fox unfolds the story in an almost confessional exchange with “Kitty,” played by Emma Gojkovic.
Along the way, however, we get to see lots of drug use, scantily clad (but never naked) women, and watch almost every major character break the fourth wall to offer snarky asides. Most of that comes from Carano, who’s as close to a narrator as the film has, but we get bon mots from Hunter, Joe, and “Kitty,” his escort-turned-confidante too. It’s all a way to bring the audience in on the joke while still making the political argument at the center of the film.
Is this approach for everyone? Naah, and frankly it normally would be off-putting for me as well, but … the sense of irreverent fun kept me engaged. If viewers are not interested in the politics, they’ll probably lose interest quickly. However, the weirdness and unusual approach may keep people watching longer than they think, and that might leave them thinking later about what they just watched. That’s clearly what My Son Hunter hopes to accomplish.
It’s now available through its official website. The disclaimer is similarly cheeky. I’d add it here, but … why spoil the fun?
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