MRQE Ranks: The Best of Political Cinema

1

Citizen Kane (1941)

Cast: Orson Welles, Dorothy Comingore, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, George Coulouris

Director: Orson Welles

Synopsis: Orson Welles first feature film -- which he directed, produced, and co-wrote, as well as playing the title role -- proved to be his most important ... [MORE]

2

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Cast: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Synopsis: In 1964, with the Cuban Missile Crisis fresh in viewers' minds, the Cold War at its frostiest, and the hydrogen bomb relatively new and frightening... [MORE]

3

All the President's Men (1976)

Cast: Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Synopsis: Conspiracy film specialist Alan J. Pakula turned journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's best-selling account of their Watergate investigatio... [MORE]

4

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Cast: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee

Director: Frank Capra

Synopsis: Frank Capra's classic comedy-drama established James Stewart as a lead actor in one of his finest (and most archetypal) roles. The film opens as a ... [MORE]

5

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Cast: Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, James Gregory, Janet Leigh

Director: John Frankenheimer

Synopsis: An unusually tense and intelligent political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate was a film far ahead of its time. Its themes of thought control, po... [MORE]

6

Nashville (1975)

Cast: Henry Gibson, Lily Tomlin, Ned Beatty, Ronee Blakley, Keith Carradine

Director: Robert Altman

Synopsis: Following 24 characters through 5 days in the country music capital, Robert Altman's 1975 epic presents a complexly textured portrayal (and critiqu... [MORE]

7

Blow Out (1981)

Cast: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz, Peter Boyden

Director: Brian De Palma

Synopsis: Brian De Palma's homage to Michelangelo Antonioni's classic art movie Blow-Up (1966) blends suspense and political paranoia when a Philadelphia sou... [MORE]

8

Duck Soup (1933)

Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont

Director: Leo McCarey

Synopsis: In this 1933 Marx Brothers film, the mythical country of Freedonia is broke and on the verge of revolution. Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), Freedo... [MORE]

9

JFK (1991)

Cast: Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek, Gary Oldman, Jay O. Sanders, Ed Asner

Director: Oliver Stone

10

Z (1969)

Cast: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jacques Perrin, Charles Denner

Director: Constantin Costa-Gavras

Synopsis: Z is one of the most politically insightful films ever made, exposing government hypocrisy and cover-up in the wake of a political assassination. Z... [MORE]

11

Frost/Nixon (2008)

Cast: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones

Director: Ron Howard

Synopsis: Hollywood heavyweight Ron Howard adapts playwright Peter Morgan's West End hit for the silver screen with this feature focusing on the 1977 televis... [MORE]

12

Reds (1981)

Cast: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Maureen Stapleton, Jack Nicholson, Edward Herrmann

Director: Warren Beatty

Synopsis: Few filmmakers other than Warren Beatty would have had the courage and vision to fashion an epic film from the life of famed American Communist Joh... [MORE]

13

Milk (2008/I)

Cast: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Diego Luna

Director: Gus Van Sant

Synopsis: Academy Award winner Sean Penn takes the title role in Gus Van Sant's biopic tracing the last eight years in the life of Harvey Milk, the ill-fated... [MORE]

14

Brazil (1985)

Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Michael Palin, Kim Greist, Katherine Helmond

Director: Terry Gilliam

Synopsis: Brazil constitutes Terry Gilliam's enormously ambitious follow-up to his 1981 Time Bandits. It also represents the second installment in a trilogy ... [MORE]

15

Gandhi (1982)

Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Edward Fox

Director: Richard Attenborough

Synopsis: It was Richard Attenborough's lifelong dream to bring the life story of Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi to the screen. When it... [MORE]

16

Munich (2005)

Cast: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Geoffrey Rush

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Much as Steven Spielberg followed 1993's special-effects blockbuster Jurassic Park with a far more downbeat and personal project later the same yea... [MORE]

17

In the Loop (2009)

Cast: Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, Gina McKee, Anna Chlumsky

Director: Armando Iannucci

Synopsis: The run-up to war makes for curious rivalries and uneasy alliances in this political satire from director and co-screenwriter Armando Iannucci. Sim... [MORE]

18

Election (1999)

Cast: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein, Jessica Campbell, Colleen Camp

Director: Alexander Payne

Synopsis: In this satirical comedy, a hotly contested high school election becomes a metaphor for the current state of American politics. Jim McAllister (Mat... [MORE]

19

The Ghost Writer (2010)

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams, Eli Wallach

Director: Roman Polanski

Synopsis: A ghostwriter stumbles onto a secret that places his life in danger as he takes down the life story of a former U.K. prime minister in this Roman P... [MORE]

20

Thirteen Days (2000)

Cast: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Steven Culp, Dylan Baker, Henry Strozier

Director: Roger Donaldson

Synopsis: Director Roger Donaldson teams up with star Kevin Costner for another political thriller (after their 1987 pairing, No Way Out), only this time wit... [MORE]

21

Thank You for Smoking (2005)

Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes

Director: Jason Reitman

Synopsis: The directorial debut from Jason Reitman, the media satire Thank You for Smoking stars Aaron Eckhart as Nick, a man who has turned spinning news an... [MORE]

22

The Constant Gardener (2005)

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Hubert Kounde, Danny Huston, Daniele Harford

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Synopsis: A man discovers a deadly secret when he tries to find out who killed the woman he loves in this suspense drama based on a novel by John Le Carré. J... [MORE]

23

Nixon (1995)

Cast: Ron Silver, Beau Bridges, Matt Frewer, Ron White, George Takei

Director: Dan Petrie

Writer: Lionel Chetwynd

24

The American President (1995)

Cast: Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, David Paymer

Director: Rob Reiner

Synopsis: This earnest, intelligent, and well-written romantic comedy is enjoyable and optimistic in classic Hollywood style, even if its idealism doesn't se... [MORE]

25

Wag the Dog (1997)

Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Woody Harrelson

Director: Barry Levinson

Synopsis: In a 29-day shoot, Barry Levinson filmed this $15 million political and media satire, adapted by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet from Larry Beinhart'... [MORE]

27

V for Vendetta (2006)

Cast: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, John Hurt, Stephen Fry

Director: James McTeigue

Synopsis: Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore, V for Vendetta takes place in an alternate vision of Britain in which a corrupt and abusive totalitarian ... [MORE]

28

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Cast: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter

Director: Joel Coen

Synopsis: The writing, directing, and producing team of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen created this picaresque comedy (inspired in part by Homer's The Odyssey[MORE]

29

Primary Colors (1998)

Cast: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester

Director: Mike Nichols

Synopsis: Mike Nichols directed this Elaine May screenplay adapted from the 1996 bestseller by "Anonymous" (Joe Klein), who fictionalized Bill Clinton's firs... [MORE]

30

Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

Cast: Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Ned Beatty, Julia Roberts

Director: Mike Nichols

Synopsis: Produced by Tom Hanks, written by Aaron Sorkin, and directed by Mike Nichols, this adaptation of George Crile III's incendiary bestseller tells the... [MORE]

31

The Ides of March (2011)

Cast: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Director: George Clooney

Synopsis: An ambitious press secretary works overtime to land his candidate in office, but quickly becomes a victim of back-room politics in director George ... [MORE]

32

Dave (1993)

Cast: Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames

Director: Ivan Reitman

Synopsis: The ghost of Frank Capra must have smiled when he saw Dave, an amusing and effective update of one of Capra's favorite themes -- the scrupulously h... [MORE]

33

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Cast: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow, John Houseman

Director: Sydney Powell, Sydney Pollack

Synopsis: "His code name is Condor. In the next 24 hours, everyone he trusts will try to kill him." As the ads ominously announced, a low-level spook confron... [MORE]

34

Syriana (2005)

Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Christopher Plummer, Chris Cooper

Director: Stephen Gaghan

Synopsis: Oil drives greed in Oscar-winning Traffic screenwriter Stephen Gaghan's labyrinthine sophomore directorial effort that traces the corruption of the... [MORE]

35

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Cast: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Jeffrey Wright

Director: Jonathan Demme

Synopsis: Jonathan Demme directed this updated remake of John Frankenheimer's 1962 cult favorite The Manchurian Candidate, a pioneering examination of politi... [MORE]

36

State of Play (2009)

Cast: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Synopsis: The Last King of Scotland director Kevin McDonald teams with screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan for this American adaptation of the hit British ... [MORE]

37

The Contender (2000)

Cast: Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater, Sam Elliott

Director: Rod Lurie

Writer: Rod Lurie

Synopsis: The hard-ball gamesmanship and casual character assassination of American politics sets the stage for this thriller from writer and director Rod Lu... [MORE]

38

Air Force One (1997)

Cast: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson, Paul Guilfoyle

Director: Wolfgang Petersen

Synopsis: In this action drama, Harrison Ford plays James Marshall, a onetime combat hero in the Vietnam War who is now President of the United States. While... [MORE]

39

Bulworth (1998)

Cast: Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Oliver Platt, Paul Sorvino

Director: Warren Beatty

Synopsis: Warren Beatty directed, co-produced (with Pieter Jan Brugge), co-scripted (with Jeremy Pikser), and stars in this political satire, a comedy drama ... [MORE]

40

Enemy of the State (1998)

Cast: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Regina King, Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet

Director: Tony Scott

Synopsis: The action producing-directing team of Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott is back with another thrill-a-minute ride called Enemy of the State. Taking... [MORE]

41

In the Line of Fire (1993)

Cast: Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, Gary Cole

Director: Wolfgang Petersen

Synopsis: Clint Eastwood delivers one of his finest performances, as a secret service agent haunted by his past in Wolfgang Petersen's taut thriller In the L... [MORE]

42

Fair Game (2010/I)

Cast: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Bruce McGill, Michael Kelly, Ty Burrell

Director: Doug Liman

Synopsis: The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman teams with screenwriters Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth to streamline Joseph Wilson's and Valer... [MORE]

43

The Interpreter (2005)

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Jesper Christensen, Yvan Attal

Director: Sydney Pollack

Synopsis: An overheard conversation leads a woman into a dark world of deadly intrigue in this political thriller. Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is an Africa... [MORE]

44

Valkyrie (2008)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten

Director: Bryan Singer

Synopsis: At the absolute height of World War II, German generals hatch a daring plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler and effectively render the German war machi... [MORE]

45

All the King's Men (1949)

Cast: Broderick Crawford, Mercedes McCambridge, John Derek, Joanne Dru, John Ireland

Director: Robert Rossen

Synopsis: Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men is a roman à clef inspired by the career of Louisiana go... [MORE]

47

Dick (1999)

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, Dan Hedaya, Jim Breuer, Teri Garr

Director: Andrew Fleming

Synopsis: The mystery of the 18-minute-gap in Richard Nixon's White House tapes -- and how it connects to the previously undocumented involvement of two teen... [MORE]

48

Absolute Power (1997)

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Scott Glenn

Director: Clint Eastwood

Synopsis: In this thriller, an aging cat burglar becomes a crusader embroiled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game involving murder and a government cover-up. Adap... [MORE]

49

Proof of Life (2000)

Cast: Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, David Morse, David Caruso, Pamela Reed

Director: Taylor Hackford

Synopsis: A woman whose marriage is in trouble finds herself falling for a new man as her husband's life hangs in the balance in this thriller. Peter Bowman ... [MORE]

50

Patriot Games (1992)

Cast: Harrison Ford, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin, Sean Bean, Thora Birch

Director: Phillip Noyce

Synopsis: In Patriot Games, Harrison Ford plays former CIA agent Jack Ryan, taking over from Alec Baldwin, who had played author Tom Clancy's brainy protagon... [MORE]

51

W. (2008/I)

Cast: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Burstyn, James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss

Director: Oliver Stone

Synopsis: Josh Brolin stars as George W. Bush in this Oliver Stone biopic that traces the head of state's rise to power from a privileged alcoholic to a born... [MORE]

52

My Fellow Americans (1996)

Cast: Jack Lemmon, James Garner, Dan Aykroyd, John Heard, Sela Ward

Director: Peter Segal

Synopsis: In this comedy, Russell P. Kramer (Jack Lemmon) and Matt Douglas (James Garner) are two former U.S. Presidents who sit on opposite sides of the pol... [MORE]

53

The Pelican Brief (1993)

Cast: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard, John Heard, Tony Goldwyn

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Synopsis: Embroiled in an affair with Thomas Callahan (Sam Shephard), her alcoholic professor, precocious 24-year-old Tulane University law student Darby Sha... [MORE]

54

Lions for Lambs (2007)

Cast: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Michael Pena, Andrew Garfield

Director: Robert Redford

Synopsis: Robert Redford directs this dramatic tale of intersecting lives that weaves together the stories of an idealistic professor's attempts to inspire a... [MORE]

55

The Parallax View (1974)

Cast: Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Walter McGinn

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Synopsis: While the Watergate scandal filled the headlines, Alan J. Pakula's 1974 thriller took its inspiration from the conspiracy theories surrounding the ... [MORE]

56

A Perfect Candidate (1996)

Director: R.J. Cutler, David Van Taylor

Synopsis: A Perfect Candidate documents the 1994 Virginia senate campaign of Oliver North. Filmmakers R.J. Cutler (The War Room) and David Van Taylor (Dream ... [MORE]

58

The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Cast: Edward Fox, Michel Lonsdale, Alan Badel, Eric Porter

Director: Fred Zinnemann

Synopsis: In this involving political thriller, a secret French paramilitary organization plans to assassinate French President Charles De Gaulle (Adrien Cay... [MORE]

59

Advise & Consent (1962)

Cast: Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford

Director: Otto Preminger

Synopsis: The first of Allen Drury "all names changed to protect the guilty" political novels, Advise and Consent was brought to the screen by producer/direc... [MORE]

60

State of the Union (1948)

Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury, Adolphe Menjou

Director: Frank Capra

Synopsis: Frank Capra's only MGM film, State of the Union was adapted by Anthony Veiller and Myles Connolly from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Howard L... [MORE]

61

Canadian Bacon (1995)

Cast: Alan Alda, John Candy, Rhea Perlman, Kevin Pollak, Rip Torn

Director: Michael Moore

Writer: Michael Moore

Synopsis: In Michael Moore's political satire, the U.S. president (Alan Alda) decides to wage a cold war against Canada in an attempt to reverse his slipping... [MORE]

62

Seven Days in May (1964)

Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien

Director: John Frankenheimer

Synopsis: Adapted by Rod Serling from the best-selling novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles Waldo Bailey II, Seven Days in May was allegedly inspired by the ... [MORE]

63

The Candidate (1972)

Cast: Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas, Allen Garfield, Don Porter

Director: Michael Ritchie

Synopsis: "What do we do now?" Director Michael Ritchie and executive producer/star Robert Redford satirically explore the machinations and manipulations of ... [MORE]

64

Bob Roberts (1992)

Cast: Tim Robbins, Giancarlo Esposito, Ray Wise, Rebecca Jenkins, Harry J. Lennix

Director: Tim Robbins

Writer: Tim Robbins

Synopsis: In the tradition of This Is Spinal Tap, producer/ director/ star Tim Robbins' Bob Roberts is a satire disguised as a documentary. Robbins plays the... [MORE]

65

No Way Out (1987)

Cast: Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young, Will Patton, Howard Duff

Director: Roger Donaldson

Synopsis: No Way Out is told in flashback as Naval officer Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner) is grilled by his superiors regarding a recent "unpleasantness." While... [MORE]