Admirable film.

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This starts with a quote "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." That is essentially the movie and the man in a nutshell.Ralph Nader throws his hat into the presidential election in 2004 and the Democrats are up in arms. The movie goes into his life as a consumer advocate starting with the automobile industry. It also digs into his personality and his single-mindedness. Then he runs for president in 2000. It tries to defend Ralph Nader's campaign but even his manager comes off as a political hack who has her talking points. Even his academic Democratic supporter has flaws simply on the surface of his research. Ultimately, every one of his arguments fall flat. They come off as either politically naive (which I don't buy) or politically insular or worst politically self-serving. Ralph needs to show some understanding of the Democratic opposition arguments but that's not the man. He is an unreasonable man. The idea that someone could be his supporter in 2000 and his opponent in 2004 is confounding to him. It's a sort of willful ignorance that his Democratic opponents level on him. It doesn't really go too much into the 2004 election other than Kerry was polite but didn't go along with his demands. In the end, this is a tragedy of an unreasonable man.

AN UNREASONABLE MAN - a documentary about Ralph Nader, was made in 2006. Two years after his second run for presidency, two years into W's 2nd term. For those who don't know who Mr. Nader is, he was best known (in the 70's) for helping make mandatory a host of things, including safety belts, which, in an epic battle against G.M., did not want to put into cars - the (minuscule) cost to do so, was deemed 'too expensive.'Mr. Nader took on many fights like this, and in his next incarnation, he ran for President of the U.S., first in 2000, and again in '04.It's the differences in these two campaigns - and, the time since that 2nd campaign ('06), and the repercussions we STILL feel today, and, for years to come - unless we wake up.Mr. Nader's first campaign was seen as almost a continuation of his consumer advocacy - he was a 3rd-party candidate, and his supporters viewed him as someone who'd help bring this nation back to it's senses - help release the elected officials' ties to PAC's, and corporations.At one point, the organization that funds the presidential debates (a private firm) refused to allow any candidates from ANY other parties, other than Democrat Al Gore, and Republican George W. Bush - to attend.This led to a situation, where Mr. Nader was invited to the debates (an off-stage viewing room, specifically), but, was met by police - who barred his entry.The election results were razor-thin, and many felt that W took the election (I'm NOT going to debate that, here), but, what happened to the US -and, the world, in general soon after, would strengthen what many perceived to be a weak, one-term presidency, and give them broad-sweeping powers that would cripple our basic rights;The attack of 11 Sept, '01.While this event is not strongly looked into, it caused ripples that would help W to a second term - and, many of the supporters of Nader's 1st run, not only wouldn't support him, they came out AGAINST him - with such vitriol (watch the difference in Michael Moore's strong convictions in praise of Nader for '00, and the clip right after, in '04, where he compares voting for Nader to the temporary high you get from using drugs!).Many who supported him, we're mocked -or worse - in '04,.As I said, this documentary was made in '06, so, we'd not yet suffered the financial meltdown of '08, and other events. Most of these once-for-now-against Nader supporters mock Nader's second run as 'foolish, egotistical,'As my father says; 'love everybody, trust nobody.' yes, it sounds cold, but, what this about- face of Mr. Nader shows how support can be fickle.At the end, several of the commentators mock Nader - his beliefs, etc. But, Mr. Nader says (I'm paraphrasing) his view has never changed. He doesn't care about his 'reputation' - only what is right. He said (again, this was made in '06) how our rights, our freedoms have been heavily eroded, and, he only wants to once again help work to make the US's founding principals, strong.It's 5 years later, when I saw this, and, the US, and, the world, is getting ever-more blind to these injustices. The finances of the world are in free-fall. A 'third World War' has been fought- without a bullet being fired. I'm referring to the MASSIVE financial clout and CONTROL by China - a country where a 'Mr. Nader' would he jailed - as they manufacture the world's technology, and much, much more.More and more people are in almost a narcotic-haze, of video games, and 'reality shows,' and materialism (Mr. Nader is NOT anti-capitalism, he's against bad, unfair business practices - that affect us ALL) - oblivious to the future. The 'Democratic' and 'Republican' parties grow ever more alike in their platforms, with the Republican party having been co- opted by extremist religious zealots, and the Democratic party practically catatonic, and, afraid to stand up for itself.What Mr. Nader rallied against - in the 70's, the '00 election, and again, the '04 election, is becoming more and more common-place.Mr. Nader states at the end, he's not interested in 'reputation' - he's interested in justice. If anything, I hope that viewing AN UNREASONABLE MAN will wake up Just one person - a person who can help continue to fight against injustices that affect us all.

This is a warts and all look at Nader's career from when he was pushing for auto safety through his Presidential runs. This is an interesting look at the man and his passion to do what he felt was right. He changed the country and the world for the better and made things much more safer for all of us. An uncompromising fellow, Nader my way or the highway stances lost him friends when some of his "raiders" went into politics in the Carter Administration and didn't do what he felt was right. More recently Democrats who needed a scapegoat. blame him for the election and re-election of George W Bush (Which is probably true on some level). Big Business of course hates his guts. Watching the film I still find that I admire the man, however I don't necessarily like him, his pit bull mentality seems to have created the sort of fellow you'd want to punch in the face occasionally just because its probably the only way to make him listen.For those who want to see who the last four decades of "consumer" issues have played out this is must see TV, for anyone else who simply wants to spend time with a real character are also encouraged to take a look see.

For many people Ralph Nader's entry into partisan politics has given them their first view of this man. The film gives a much richer view reaching back to his family and college days, and shows his quest for rights of the individual member of the public and for consumer advocacy in general have been a lifelong mission. Former coworkers and colleagues - many Nader's Raiders - are featured along with commentators who have followed him over the years.The filmmakers are sympathetic to all aspects of Ralph, but (in the early cut I saw at Sundance '06) advocates for the original Ralph, champion of Everyman, the guy whom I thank daily as I reach for my mandated seat belt.