Creating a film with political overtones runs the risk of alienating audiences who don’t agree with whichever side’s ideals you’re espousing through your characters, and so the safest bet is to either not do it or to hedge your bets and play both sides. Politics of Love, a love story set between the public faces of the Obama and McCain campaigns in a small town, attempts to never take a stance as either an advocate of Democrats or Republicans. Unfortunately, it loses its grip on neutrality in the final minutes and falls into the camp of the former in its characterizations of decent members of the GOP as a rare find amidst a collection of unethical jocks with fetishes.
Returning home after losing her job in New York, Aretha Gupta (Mallika Sherawat) returns home to live with her family under the caring watch of her interracial parents, her protective and outspoken mother (Loretta Devine) and her stubborn father (Gerry Bednob), whose restaurant she works in along with her brother (Anil Raman). Within days she gets sucked into working on the Obama presidential campaign and attracts the eye of her rival Kyle Franklin (Brian J. White), curious to get to know the person he’s competing with. The pundits find themselves drawn to one another and soon everyone finds out just how complicated things can get when love and politics cross.
The film is mostly harmless and the writing charges through one cliché after another with no sense of subtlety when it comes to moving the story along. It’s hard to take it too seriously though, as some poor direction by William Dear and a sloppy performance by Sherawat make it hard to take seriously as entertainment from the first few minutes.
DVD Bonus Features
There are none.
"Politics of Love" is on sale September 13, 2011 and is not rated. Comedy, Romance. Directed by William Dear. Written by Gary Goldstein. Starring Brian White, Loretta Devine, Mallika Sherawat, Gerry Bednob.
