Anthony's Film Review - The Supporters (2021)

A fast-paced mockumentary that provides needed laughs in the midst of turbulent American politics...

The Supporters is a documentary-style political comedy film done in the spirit of Sacha Baron Cohen, the same Sacha Baron Cohen who played the Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev in two films, both involving interacting with and pranking real people to put together a funny fictional story. If you enjoyed those Borat movies, and perhaps the movie Bruno and the TV series Who Is America?, you should be able to enjoy The Supporters. I will say right now, though, that it's nowhere near as funny as Cohen's work. But don't take that as a huge criticism. The Supporters is still a delightful comedy overall.

The film centers on two right-wing podcasters named Derek and Dale. They produce the Derek and Dale show from the inside of their van. But they also have big dreams. They want their show to be part of the programming lineup on Fox News. Their journey involves trying to get their foot in the door at Fox News, plus meeting various people across the political landscape of America, from high-profile politicians to ordinary folks, in order to produce a demo tape that would get the attention of Fox News. They also find themselves in the midst of two things sweeping across the country: COVID-19 and the QAnon movement.

The prank scenes are funny and can easily generate a smile at minimum. Expect to see moments like Joe Biden giving relationship advice, Senator Elizabeth Warren getting a marriage proposal, reactions from people working in the Fox News building, and the faces of bystanders in New York's Times Square as they are witnessing Derek and Dale doing some strange stuff. The jokes are delivered rapidly, making the overall movie a fast-paced comedy. In fact, the running time of one hour and eight minutes is shorter than you'd expect for a feature-length film.

The characters of Derek and Dale are played respectively by Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler, who are the political comedy duo known as the Good Liars. They came to fame as a result of a joke in which they dressed up as investment bankers to protest the Occupy Wall Street movement. They also produced one previous political comedy film called Undecided, in which they pranked candidates for the 2016 presidential election. Looking at their portfolio, I have to say that the Good Liars are indeed good at the lying they do for our entertainment.

While I'm on the topic of the people involved in this movie, I would also like to give a shoutout to MeidasTouch Pictures. MeidasTouch is a progressive political action committee that formed in 2020 when they made video ads against the reelection of Donald Trump as president, and since then, their movement has led to the launch of the MeidasTouch Podcast (featuring lots of high-profile guests, including politicians and liberal celebrities), a few associated podcasts, and MeidasTouch Pictures that is also behind The Supporters.

Going back to this movie, how would I rate The Supporters on my 1-to-10 scale? Well, for comedies, it depends much on how much I laughed or didn't laugh. If I laugh a little but still admire the movie overall, it would be a 6. A 10 on my scale would require that I laughed so hard and so frequently. With that in mind, I rate The Supporters a 7 out of 10, meaning I laughed audibly enough or at least smiled, and that occurred with most of the comedy scenes. Any movie that I rate a 7 or higher should definitely be good for others to see.

So there you have it. The Supporters is a funny political comedy film that will surely make you smile, especially if the madness of American politics since 2016 has really gotten to you. If anything, The Supporters is a good emotional antidote to the stresses of COVID-19 and QAnon. Enjoy it.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about The Supporters, visit the Internet Movie Database.