I almost never rate ten, on the principle that nothing is perfect, but this has to be one of my exceptions. This was a brilliant piece of television for its time, and nearly two decades later still is. With only two actors and a professional TV anchor really involved, it was essentially a fifty minute dialogue between the Santos and Vinick characters, a massive task for Smits and Alda. They rose to the challenge admirably - as another reviewer has suggested, we lost sight of the fact that it was scripted. This may have been helped by the fact that (in my understanding) it was indeed at least partly improvised. Even more kudos to the actors! What we saw was two honourable men, representing possibly the best of the two sides of the polarised US political system, presenting their ideas in a clear, logical fashion. I found myself caught up, waving at the screen and saying "Oh, come on, pull him up on that! You can't let him get away with that!". I found myself sympathising with much of what both were saying. And I found myself saddened by the thought that this maybe could not happen today. The events of the last decade have further increased the polarisation of the US, politically, socially, economically, ethically, technically, and probably a few other "...ally"s. But this episode still holds up the banner of hope and possibility. Long may it wave!
Review of The Debate
