Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains

Filmmaker Jonathan Demme’s portrait of the ex-President is a slice-of-life study that follows Carter on a book tour for his 2006 tome Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Those seeking historical context or a biographical sketch of this extraordinary statesman will be disappointed, but Demme does offer a glimpse into Carter’s off-screen personality, spotlighting the ways in which his easygoing demeanor is underscored by strong emotions and equally strong beliefs. His views on the Middle East are probed at length, and perhaps the film’s single most interesting aspect is its depiction of how various media outlets carefully package their guests.

Shelf Talk: Election-year fever is in full effect on the news networks, so the public is in a political frame of mind. Baby boomers and other middle-age viewers longing for the relative simplicity of ’70s politics are a key audience for this film, especially those aware of the greater context of sequences in which Carter helps build a house in New Orleans and openly criticizes the current administration on CNN.