Review of Advise & Consent

What you think about this movie will strongly depend on you. I think the average person would probably score it a 6 or 7, the average teen a 3 or 4 and the average Government teacher a 9. I have taught Government in the past and am also a history teacher, so I was fascinated by the movie's plot PLUS saw it as a good civics lesson on how the Senate REALLY works--complete with all the sleaze and back room dealing. But, I would strongly hesitate using it with my high school students because they would probably be bored by the slow pacing and occasional lapses in tempo. However, for college students or advanced high schoolers this would be great. What I particularly liked was how brave the movie was in tackling blackmail and homosexuality--topics RARELY talked about--especially in 1962 when this film debuted. In addition, the ending was excellent and the movie picked up steam at the end. The only negative was HOW DID THEY KNOW WHICH SENATOR WAS THE BLACKMAILER? The answer to this just seemed like too easy a solution to be very believable.