Making a case for Bill Clinton and his presidency

Like a Texas Longhorn pinned down in the backfield by a swarm of Arkansas Razorbacks, the right wing has nowhere to run in Harry Thomason and Nickolas Perry’s persuasive documentary, “The Hunting of the President,” which chronicles the systematic persecution of William Jefferson Clinton during his rise from the governorship of the Natural State through his two terms in the White House.

Based on the bestseller by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons, the film constructs an intriguing account of the decade of attacks and scandals that plagued Clinton, playing out like a compilation of Great Tabloid Headlines of the ‘90s. Troopergate, Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Whitewater, Vince Foster and Monica Lewinsky are all here, dissected through media footage and punditry by former Clinton advisor and author Sidney Blumenthal, former conservative journalist David Brock (“Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative”; “The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy”), veteran crime reporter Dan Moldea, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz, political consultant and former Clinton aide Paul Begala and many others.

The film falls short of proving Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 1998 charge of a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” but it paints a convincing portrait of a loose network of conservatives out to sink her husband’s political career. From low-level Arkansans looking to make a buck off a local boy’s success by exploiting his reputation for womanizing to powerful Republican attorneys, including independent counsel Kenneth Starr, brandishing grudges and swapping favors, the Clintons’ enemies do not fare well in the film.

Though Conason and Lyons do a much better job of placing into context the reasons the right targeted Bill Clinton -- namely the Republicans’ well-grounded fear that even a relatively unknown, moderate Southern Democrat would be an unbeatable opponent -- the filmmakers preserve most of the book’s key points while keeping the film under an hour and a half.

Like “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “The Hunting of the President” aims not to present a “fair and balanced” look at Clinton’s travails but instead to provide a counterweight to what has previously been presented in the news. The complicity of the mainstream media is a major theme of the film, which points out how legitimate news outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, were quick to jump on sensationalistic charges but gave much less coverage when stories failed to pan out.

The film marks the feature documentary debut for both of its co-writer/directors, Thomason, a well known F.O.B. (Friend of Bill) and longtime television producer whose wife, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, made the effective 1992 Clinton campaign film “A Man From Hope,” and Perry, a former Army Ranger who directed the 1999 indie film “Speedway Junky.”

“The Hunting of the President” begins and ends with then-newly retired Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) asking “How did we come to be here?” as he delivers his impassioned closing argument in defense of the president during the Senate impeachment hearings in January 1999. From there, Thomason and Perry go back and methodically deal with the constant obstacles thrown at Clinton as he made his way from Little Rock to Washington.

The filmmakers break the film into chapters, addressing events more or less chronologically, punctuating the talking heads with pointed old film clips that are meant to be clever but come across as slightly juvenile. Well organized, “Hunting” also is a bit dry at times, lacking a narrative drive. Since we know where the film is leading, that inherent curiosity on the part of the audience to know what happens next is missing.

The film also has an aloof quality, perhaps overcompensating for Thomason’s close personal connection to the former president. Clinton is seen only in familiar news clips, and his presence as a protagonist is sorely missed. Many of those interviewed are journalists or media figures, so much of what they say is not firsthand but what they and others have reported. Only Susan McDougal, who went to prison for her involvement in Whitewater before being pardoned by Clinton in 2001, brings a humanizing dimension, at one point breaking down and asking that the camera be turned off.

Principal figures from the right spurned requests to be interviewed, so we’re left with repeated stock shots of Starr smarmily addressing reporters.

The film’s strengths lie in its assemblage of information, producing a fairly thorough overview of this facet of the Clinton years, exonerating him of wrongdoing in his financial activities while pointing out the dismay felt by those who worked with him for his lack of judgment in his personal behavior.

Thomason and Perry are no Errol Morris, or even Michael Moore, but they have made a film that is worthy of being seen as more than a potential double-bill partner for “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

*

‘The Hunting of the President’

MPAA rating: Unrated

Times guidelines: Sexual references and an unpleasant description of life in prison

A Diceburg LLC production, distributed by Regent Releasing. Directors Harry Thomason and Nickolas Perry. Producer Douglas Jackson. Executive producer Mark S. Weiner. Screenplay by Harry Thomason and Nickolas Perry, based on the book by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons. Cinematographer Jim Roberson. Editor Nickolas Perry. Music Bruce Miller. Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes.

In selected theaters.