The Best Man

Presidential politics may loom larger and darker since Watergate, but this disenchanted peek behind the scenes of an American election still bites, thanks to a Gore Vidal script (based on his own play) which dissects with gleeful cynicism the machinery of tub-thumping, image-building and chicanery that goes into motion as rival presidential candidates (Fonda the nice liberal, Robertson the nasty extremist) fight to cut each other's throats. Memorable lines galore, like the Southern senator's all-purpose reply to awkward questions about how many integrated schools there are in his state ('None, thank God, but we're making remarkable progress'), and a whole string of brilliant performances.