Randi Rhodes

Left of the Dial
$19.98
I'll try to make sure I review the actual movie here. The story, as I'm sure anyone reading this already knows, is of the start of Air America, an effort to combat what its creators saw as domination of the talk radio market by conservatives. The film does an adequate, if uninspired, job of capturing the early efforts of the startup network, but there could have been so much more here. The struggles included losing two of the three largest affiliates, Chicago and Los Angeles, money troubles that led to the employees losing their health insurance, a primary investor who disappears, and, perhaps most devastating of all for the film's subjects, the 2004 re-election of George W. Bush.

Against all these obstacles, there had to be intense soul-searching, anger, and frustration. These personal stories, however, are largely absent from the film. Instead, we get a sort-of fly-on-the-wall view of the efforts to get the network on the air and then keep it there. There are times when the film comes close to personal stories, notably with Janeane Garofalo and her father (a Bush Republican), but even there, the one face-to-face debate between the two is cut short.

The shame is that here was a film with the potential for so much more. The odds were certainly against the network, and the passion of those who stuck with it through truly trying times would have made for compelling viewing. (Documentaries such as Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens, and Mr. Death: The Rise & Fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr. are examples of movies that succeed because they do get personal, regardless of whether one sympathizes with the subjects.) The best part of the disc is the commentary, when personalities really do emerge, especially that of Randi Rhodes. The film itself, though, did not impress me.