Have you ever been in a situation where you have lost sight of what you are fighting for, become so enmeshed in the battle, that the objective has been ignored and ultimately forgotten? ‘The Candidate’ explores the dilemma of Bill McKay, a man who is roped in by the Democrats to fight a seemingly impossible battle against the incumbent Californian Republican Senator Crocker Jarmon.
The plot revolves around McKay, son of a former California Governor who has chosen to stay away from politics and works as a lawyer. He is approached by Marvin Lucas, an election specialist to contest against Jarmon because no senior Democrat is willing to give it a shot. The carrot for McKay is that he is entering a losing battle anyway and he can rant as much as he wants against the system and uphold his reform agenda and have his voice heard. But, as the campaign is underway, he finds himself becoming increasingly popular and increasingly similar to the politician that he does not want to end up as. How he deals with this dilemma even though he is gaining on his rival is what the film explores.
Director Michael Ritchie keeps the treatment less dramatic and more realistic as McKay goes about meeting the public on his campaign trial. The key aspect of his direction is that he is able to show the discomfort of the man who feels the walls closing in on him as he encounters success after success in the election battle, but is further and further away from what he wants to achieve.
Robert Redford delivers a passable performance as the increasingly suffocated McKay. Being an actor of limitation he does a decent job of showing McKay’s frustration, but his expressions are largely one-sided as grumpy or irritated. Melvyn Douglas as McKay's father lends a powerful presence as the father who sees his son embrace the same system that he loathed. Peter Boyle, as Lucas plays an able supporting role as the spin doctor, who manages McKay’s campaign and image. Redford and Boyle display good chemistry on screen as they trade opinions and viewpoints. The final scene of the film between the two characters is most weighty.
‘The Candidate’ is a cynical take on the political system and what it takes to be successful in the space. It does uphold the idea that an individual can make a difference if he wishes to, by entering the political system, but must make adjustments to play the game by its rules. It is not everybody’s cup of tea.