Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: The movie is breezy, fun and keeps comin' at ya. Politics needs more of this and less of what went on in Ohio. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: [Director Frank] Popper sticks close to the fierce campaigner and his young, mostly inexperienced staffers, capturing all the energy, idealism, dour humor, and unreasoning hope of a Cinderella candidacy. Read more

Janice Page, Boston Globe: A rousing, sometimes funny, frequently depressing documentary. Read more

Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times: Mr. Smith captures ground-level political machinations in an utterly fascinating way. The question raised by the title makes for an interesting, if possibly disheartening, debate. Read more

Tim Grierson, L.A. Weekly: For all its rah-rah David-vs.-Goliath populism, Can Mr. Smith understands that even an uncorrupted outsider like Smith must master the art of campaign gamesmanship to be successful. Read more

Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times: Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? is an amusing case study in youthful enthusiasm for the electoral process, but this modest documentary skips the weighty issues posed by its namesake, the Frank Capra 1939 drama. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Eddie Cockrell, Variety: Although the outcome is public record, pic is undeniably gripping as it reveals a distressing degree of voter complacency. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Director Frank Popper has made a lively, engaging nail-biter of a film that recalls The War Room in its candor, intimacy and breathless pace. Read more