The basic premise of this film is that the media has blurred the lines and polarized the country in a way that has created conflict over truth in reporting.The sub text is celebrity and it's role in making or breaking a candidate.I went into this movie wanting to really like it. The celebrities are all idiots who could care less about anything except getting their names in the paper. What an insular jaded bunch of jerks.It's not an even handed take, as some reviewers say. The film is roughly 90 minutes long and 2/3's is devoted to the DNC convention with Obama butt licking. Then we shift to the RNC convention and a bunch of liberals are interviewed saying they are going to learn what the Republicans believe in. They arrive and we are told the mood is somber and there is "nobody" there. Five minutes into what you think will be the right's say, we cut back to the libbie and some idiotic concert with Woody Guthrie music and the SEICU commies. Then Sting with some strange hair.Where's the balance?To be fair, Levinson's commentary is really good and on target. But those are few and far between. The vast majority of the movie is left- biased and presents the liberal point of view.The Republicans are shown as sand buffoons, unlike the Democrats.As i said, I really wanted to like this film more than I did. I wanted to smack Ellen Bursten. SHe's such a self centered jerk.Too bad...this really could have been a great film. Given the slant, it's just OK

Here's what the plot says...An in-depth look at the Democratic and Republican national conventions held during the 2008 U.S. Presidential election year.This is more of an in depth look at the Democratic celebrities who support the Obama Administration. I went into watching this documentary with an open mind without necessarily taking any specific sides but the majority of this documentary focused on the Democratic party and Obama. I was watching this film for over an hour and it was all completely focused on the liberal celebrity point of views. When it finally transitioned to the RNC it STILL focused on the democrats. This film rarely gave any opportunity for Republicans, let alone celebrity Republicans to convey their message. When the filmmakers did talk about Republicans it seemed mostly to poke fun of the party, it's members, or the Americans that supported it. I would have to say out of all the documentaries I have watched this one is not even close to being educational or living up to what the plot describes. I wish it would have just read, An in-depth look at the Democratic national convention and the celebrities that support it. That way, I could have passed over it and not wasted any of my time.

"PoliWood" is one of the worst documentaries I have seen.With a director like Barry Levinson, I certainly wasn't expecting such poor quality. At the beginning I was questioning if he forgot how to direct because he had shaky hand-held interviews that looked bad and didn't add anything to the film.It's supposed to be about how celebrities have influenced and changed politics. But it went frequently off-course with topics like the history of television and public relations. Which all would have been fine if anything of interest was added. Most of the interviews and footage didn't actually say anything of note, and when they did, they didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.Documentaries should be able to educate while providing interesting footage and interviews which actually relate to the subject matter at hand. But "PoliWood" didn't have any of that: it didn't teach me anything new and I don't think it could enlighten anybody. Most of the footage didn't directly relate to celebrities influencing politics. And while he did have interviews with celebrities about politics, they were mostly with well-respected individuals like Ellen Burstyn and Susan Sarandon, and most people don't question their involvement in politics.But what about the (negative) impact when talent-less celebrities like Paris Hilton or Megan Fox try to get involved? And more importantly what can we, as more educated and informed citizens, do to stop their influence on the political process if it is in fact detrimental? I'm extremely disappointed that "PoliWood" didn't even try to answer those questions, and more disappointed that it didn't even show me anything interesting or educational.

While I enjoyed Poliwood and everything it taught me about some of the actual views of celebrities, I couldn't help but feel that I was being manipulated. Everyone of the liberal celebrities is shown to be open-minded, intelligent, kind, compassionate, and empathetic. Meanwhile all of the Republicans--in one way or another--are subtly discredited. Example: The interview of Stephen Baldwin centers on religion and not politics. The entire film seemed to be about how rough the celebrities have it with their opinions not being respected. There was a clear bias in that there was rarely any mentioning of liberal media bias. The only media bias widely spoken of was, of course, Fox News. For crying out loud, Keith Olbermann, who many times out-Foxes Fox, is used to prove one of Levinson's points about conservatives. Levinson's bias is finally and ultimately revealed when he arrives at the RNC. Upon arrival, he immediately begins to crack jokes (Which might have been funny if he didn't have his sidekick ruining them). This is in stark contrast to his reverential approach to the DNC and President Obama. (Of course once the holy liberal celebrities arrive, they begin to hold meetings with conservatives about open-mindedness.)Final Verdict: 6/10 It was extremely interesting to me, however; it is a very manipulative, biased piece of film.