This is a beautiful, moving, insightful look at how the sausage really gets made in these polarized times. Van Jones is the central figure, but this not hagiography. The story is much larger, and the filmmakers' ambitions far greater than simply profiling an individual. They have their camera trained on the divisions that have come to characterize not just our politics but our very sense of self -- and also the resounding good that can come from transcending those divisions.
The film is not at all didactic or bombastic. It's a gentle film, filled with empathy, humor, and, most crucially, optimism. With the remarkable access the filmmakers got to the White House, and particularly to Jared Kushner, they could have taken a mocking, flippant tone, but they do not -- Kushner, as much as Jones, is depicted by the film as a human being first, and at least in this instance, pushing for change that will deliver real help to thousands of Americans. The same open-hearted view of people and politics is on full display in the sequences showing Jones brings together black West coast activists and white West Virginian Trump supporters. Commonalities quickly override differences, friendships and mutual purpose form, and we get to see -- for once -- Red America and Blue America actually talk to each other.
This film is, if not an antidote, at least a tonic for the daily tribal warfare that defines us. Do yourself a favor and watch it.
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