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Conventioneers DVD Review

by Kam Williams

DVD Features Cross-Party Romance at Republican Convention

Dave Massey (Mathew Mabe) is a Texas delegate to the Republican National Convention being staged at Madison Square Garden. Liberal Lea Jones (Woodwyn Koons) is also in NYC, but she's there as an activist to participate in demonstrations against the Bush Administration policies. He's straitlaced and married to a Christian conservative, while she's a bohemian, so they don't really have much in common.

But these 30 year-olds were classmates in Dartmouth, and despite their political differences, romantic sparks to fly when they cross paths for the first time in seven years. And it is their passionate, hotel room affair, set against the backdrop of actual footage shot inside the 2004 Convention and on the surrounding streets of Manhattan, which fuels the fires of Conventioneers, a fine directorial debut by Mora Stephens.

Stephens seemingly erases the line between fact and fiction, here, as she somehow managed to sneak not only cameras, but characters inside of the Garden to imbue her movie with a very convincing sense of cinema verite'. It also helps that her actors are talented and just as earnest about their leanings as they are about their sudden sexual interest in each other.

Seeing Lea actually carrying a flag-draped coffin in a real march on Seventh Avenue makes it easier to buy the idea later that she is truly committed to her cause. And devout Dave is just as convincing, whispering sweet nothings on the phone to his wife back home, one minute, hanging up to make love to Lea, the next.

Conventioneers must be considered to be among the best micro-budget offerings in recent memory, for it effectively chronicles two stories simultaneously: the repressive measures employed by Republicans to suppress dissent, and a pressure-packed, fictional affair involving unlikely lovers where something's gotta' give.

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 99 minutes
Studio: Cinema Libre Studios
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, audio commentary, arrest shorts, plus "The Makin of" featurette.

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