Tanner On Tanner [Dist. by Showtime]

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Once More in ´04!

With "Tanner on Tanner," Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau revisit the world of Jack Tanner (Michael Murphy), the fictional candidate who ran for President in "Tanner ´88." This time, the focus shifts from Jack to his daughter Alex played by Cynthia Nixon. The DVD from the Sundance Channel includes all four 30-minute episodes.

In 1988, Alex was a young, idealistic college girl eager to help her dad run for president and change the world. In 2004, she´s a thirty-something filmmaker who wants to shoot a movie about her father´s run for president in 1988. She´s looking for her big break in the ultra-competitive field of documentary production.

And oh boy is it competitive. As guest star Martin Scorsese observes in the first episode, "Everybody´s making a movie these days!" This is where "Tanner on Tanner" focuses its attention, not on the world of political campaigning but rather on a world oversaturated with media outlets. Jack Tanner thought it was bad in 1988 having to look good and smile for the camera at all the right times. Sixteen years later, everyone and his grandmother and her agent can get their hands on a digital camera and shoot their own film.

In fact, Alex, who also teaches a documentary production class, is even being followed around by one of her students, Stuart (Luke MacFarlane) who is making a documentary about Alex making her documentary. Later, we watch a room full of students watching the documentary Stuart made about the documentary Alex was making which we, in turn, watched Stuart making. You´re probably starting to get the idea. "Tanner on Tanner" adds layer upon layer of self-reflexivity to the point of absurdity. Altman has tongue planted firmly in cheek - he thinks a few too many people today have bought cheap cameras and deluded themselves into thinking they are filmmakers. In one of the funniest scenes, we´re told that there are no fewer than 40 documentary crews roaming the floor at the Democratic Convention. Even funnier is the fact that Altman didn´t make that up. There really were that many crews in attendance. Michael Moore, what hath thou wrought?

While Altman scores some points lampooning the burgeoning documentary scene, much of the rest of the film falls curiously flat. The mostly low-key tone of the first series has been exchanged for a much shriller register. Nixon´s performance in "Tanner ´88" was sweet, sincere and mellow. Sixteen years later, the "Sex and the City" star is positively chewing the scenery. Alex appears on the edge of a nervous breakdown and Nixon's shrill, hysterical performance goes so far over the top at times, it´s difficult to tell whether we´re supposed to take her seriously anymore.

In addition, other cast members seem to playing characters who themselves are playing the characters they played in the first series. "Tanner ´88" was a satire to be sure, but it usually played it straight. In "Tanner on Tanner," one gets the sense that everyone is nudging each other and giving a wink before every scene. This time there´s more slapstick than satire, resulting in too many clunky, in-your-face sit-com moments. Still, it´s interesting to note how smoothly Jack´s campaign staffers can transition into the world of filmmaking. Apparently, managing a candidate for President isn´t much different than running a movie set.

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