As I waited for my SXSW screening of Running With Beto, which will be released on HBO on May 26, volunteers were passing out Biden-Beto 2020 bumper stickers. I had a glimmer of hope this meant something bigger was on the horizon. Was good ol’ Uncle Joe Biden going to come out with the Senate candidate that took America’s heart during the midterms and announce his bid for the presidency?
Evidently, no. Beto O’Rourke would announce his own presidential bid Wednesday night, five days after the SXSW premiere of the documentary about his 2018 Texas Senate campaign. Such an announcement was unlikely, but the hype felt like it could build to something bigger, much like the documentary itself.
Political documentaries have the odds stacked against them, especially in today’s political and socioeconomic landscape. One side is winning, the other side is losing. If you’re not praising the other, you’re actively cheering for another by default. Running With Beto has a clear blue slant. Nothing is inherently wrong about that, but if it’s looking to change its audience’s views and show a blind spot that led to Beto’s eventual defeat, it fails. This is a victory lap for a loss. It’s also an amplifier for everyone that hoped Beto would put his name in the hat to take down Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Beto was the golden child, the one that was supposed to flip Texas blue and instead ran into a red wall named Ted Cruz. Director David Modigliani simply reaffirms that thought, documenting the phenom’s revolution that turned Texas purple for the near future, but rarely does the documenting rise above the occasion.
Just as the documentary has the odds stacked against it by its political nature, it’s also at a loss for following such a charismatic character. Beto is naturally charming, but he doesn’t come off like that automatically. He ramps up with every speech, with each viral video, and in personal interactions. For the first half, Running With Beto is mostly a compilation of moments out of context that fail to capture that same intensity. As Modigliani and his team continue the narrative with behind the scenes footage, they unveil more that captures the true essence of their subject.
O’Rourke’s shown as insightful and in-tune but at the same rate, the marathon he’s running has pulled the worst out of him. He’s occasionally passive aggressive with his staff, particularly when the communications team misses its mark. He’ll also drop some casual language previously considered unpresidential. That’s the worst of Beto and as objective as the doc gets, showing not only the sensation that Beto creates but how he handles that himself and the responsibility that follows.
Modigliani and crew have done a magical job piecing it all together, and more than documenting Beto’s life, shows that political races are as much about family than the individual on the ballot. Beto’s wife and kids provide as much insight as the official campaign team, and in turn lifts the veil on the whole political process. The same should be said about Running’s occasional venture into media analysis, showing how vital viral content was to creating “Beto” and how both the right and left wing media framed those developments. Implementing news articles and clips into documentaries has been done ad nauseam, yet it finds a new life here literally etching itself into Texas landscapes. It’s a smart, innovative technique that raises the otherwise flat plains of Texas and Beto’s flat rise to fame.
Running With Beto doesn’t reinvent the documentary and doesn’t reframe the narrative of who Beto is. It’s made to reaffirm every Beto’s vote and help launch his presidential campaign. The most interesting thing to come out of it with his official announcement made is what’s next? What will Running With Beto 2 be? The same investigation into what could have been or what will the next four years be with Beto? It lives and dies by its subject matter, not its ability to tell his story.
Overall Rating: 6.5 out of 10
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