Don’t look now — but I’m noticing a lot of mainstream writers who are praising the new film about Sarah Palin. (Or — at least — they are willing to write complimentary things about it.)
Here’s a quick rundown of what I’m seeing so far:
Over at CBS, Jan Crawford penned a positive review, noting: “If you like Sarah Palin, the movie will make you like her even more. Using never-before-seen video, it shows Palin taking on the machine and winning, while racking up whopping 80 percent approval ratings in the state. And you will feel fresh outrage about how savagely she has been treated and mocked by Hollywood and the liberal elite.”
(Many people view Palin’s 2008 interview with CBS’s Katie Couric as a major negative turning point. Could it be that the post-Couric CBS will portray Palin differently?)
The Daily Beast’s Shushannah Walshe (also a co-author of “Sarah from Alaska”) noted the film “offers an accurate look at just how much Palin was able to accomplish in her short tenure as governor of Alaska.”
Salon’s Matt Latimer wrote, “the movie is earnest in offering those who are willing to take a second look at the beleaguered Alaskan.” He goes on to add:
Once upon a time … Sarah Palin was a political wonder: a mom who stood up — and defeated – powerful members of her own party. Though a long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away, even the New York Times favorably noted that Palin “first rose to prominence as a whistle-blower uncovering ethical misconduct in state government.”
“The Undefeated” deftly uses local news footage to document this early, now largely forgotten image of Palin (and, yes, she always talked like that). See Palin, apparently singlehandedly, enact historic ethics reform, cut state spending, and work with Democrats and the detestable “lamestream media” to pass long-sought laws tackling the corrupt practices of Big Oil (Exxon’s publicist is not going to like this film). Palin’s legitimately-earned reformer reputation helped her garner a sustained approval rating of more than 80 percent in her state.
Michael Falcone of ABC’s “The Note” authored a fair review of the film — as did The Hill’s Jordan Fabian.
Writing at The Huffington Post, Amy Siskind noted, “When the credits rolled at the end of the pre-screening of The Undefeated my first thought was this: Why didn’t Hillary’s advisors think of this? …. The Undefeated is providing such an important service by, finally, introducing Sarah Palin.”
Siskind goes on to note that “At the end of the film, I suspect the 20% of voters who consider themselves far left still won’t consider her (just as those 20% on the far right would never vote for a Democrat); but, I am quite certain that a whole lot of reasonable voters in between will be surprised by what they see.”
To be sure, there are negative reviews, but, so far, the film seems to be winning plaudits from some unlikely viewers. This is part of the reason why I argued yesterday that the film could be a game-changer for Palin…