Watch The President's Analyst For Free

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fresh and Exciting

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Blistering performances.

It is my conviction that films must in some way convey one or more messages to their public. In most cases they do, but the narrative of The president's analyst is a difficult nut to crack. The story is amusing but superficial, and avoids to play on emotions. I suspect that director Flicker is inspired by the Nouvelle Vague, which at the time was quite popular. Of course the leading director of this movement is Jean-Luc Godard. In fact the Godard style emerged as a rebellion against the authoritarian rule of the (French) presidential regime. If presidents do not do it to their wives, they do it to their country. Flicker addresses many of the social events, that shocked the people in the late sixties. The main theme is political spying, which still dominated the news in those days of the Cold War. The film portrays a truly paranoid society. Show me where Stalin is buried, and I will show you a communist plot. The title shots display a political execution, which according to the main character psychiatrist Schaefer is a rational and respectable deed. Note that at the time the people were confronted with the Vietnam war on a daily basis. However, it soon becomes apparent that the FBI has transformed killing into merely a bureaucratic act. Thus Schaefer himself is eventually targeted by them. For some reason the telephone company is also involved in the conspiracy plot. Fortunately, at the time an alternative emerges, the counter culture of the New Age movement. And indeed a group of hippies helps Schaefer to escape from his assailants. He immediately blends in with his new companions. They make love and say: "That was wonderful for you. How was it for me?" (just kidding). Remember that actually the humanist psychology was an important part of the New Age, certainly for the middle classes. For such an absurd script it is not a spoiler to reveal the final scene: during Christmas Schaefer fraternizes with an American and Soviet spy, which provides for a happy ending. Once again the fat guy with the red suit and white beard gets all the credit. The film is recommendable, but be warned: you must know the atmosphere of those days in order to truly appreciate it.

The gas has cooled on this balloon, and the (political) Earth shifted underneath. But that makes it a bit more enjoyable if you come to this for the structure.The story device is simple: cold war spy versus spy, only to learn that the (then monopoly) phone company trumps all. But the narrative structure is apart from that. It employs James Coburn, then well known for what we could later call folded acting: where his persona as Coburn is folded into his reactions as the character.That character is an analyst, who at least for the purposes of the film, has the ability to see below the surface and understand causal dynamics. He first is exposed to the president, standing as the surrogate for one nation's psyche (in relation to others). We meet the surrogates for those others as they mostly bicker, except for two opposing spies (both under therapy from our doctor).It is a brilliant choice, having our own in-story viewer being an analyst. This differs from the usual formula of detective/reporter/lawyer. Among other possibilities, it allows for three sequences internal to the mind. One is a marijuana-laced lovemaking session in a field; another an LSD trip. The third is a similar psychedelic torture method applied by the phone company. Perhaps these worked decades ago, but I think not. You need something less flippant to help us reference internal reflection.But they did do a good enough job of conflating the internal mind of the first two into the technologically induced visions of the phone company's headquarters. And that matters to us. Because the phone company here has little to do with phones. It is instead the sort of pervasive spy that sees us the same way we as viewers are seeing the film. Indeed, the end of the film pulls back and we see an audience of 'people' from the phone company. These are not people in fact, but robots which in this fabulation of analysis removes them from the scope of the on-screen analyst, so that the noir formula is preserved: we the audience by our viewing directly enter the film and manipulate an unknowing, hapless character.Of course no one would ever consider this an art film with serious pretension. That makes it more interesting to find these sorts of dynamics — perhaps intuitively designed — in a light mass entertainment.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

James Coburn is "The President's Analyst" in this 1967 dark-humored film also starring Godfrey Cambridge, Severn Darden, Eduard Franz, Will Geer and Barry McGuire. Coburn is Sidney Schaefer, a New York psychiatrist chosen to be the analyst for the President of the United States. It's a great honor and all that, but the assignment turns out to be nothing but trouble. He becomes paranoid and when he starts to believe his girlfriend is a spy, he escapes his many watchers by joining a White House tour and attaching himself to a couple, Bing and Jeff Quantrill (Wiliam Daniels and Joan Darling). Claiming that he works for the President who wants to get a handle on what Americans are thinking, they agree to take him back to the New York suburbs with them. But Sidney can't escape - everyone seems to know where he is, even later on, when he runs away with a group of hippie musicians and dons a wig. One faction of the U.S. government wants him found and returned to Washington; another one, the FBR, wants him dead. All the other countries want him to find out what he knows, or they want him dead so no one else learns anything.There are lots of great things in this film, but the best is the segment with William Daniels and Joan Darling, who play two liberals who have more guns in their house than a gun store. "The people next door are Fascists," Bing says. "They ought to be gassed." With Sidney in Chinatown, government agents approach them to kidnap Sidney. Jeff attacks with karate while Bing shoots to kill - and Sidney takes off.Baby boomers will especially enjoy all the '60 elements. "The President's Analyst" walks a line between satire and the real feelings of the '60s (many of which are still held) about the government. And it succeeds beautifully. James Coburn was an underrated actor who always delivered unique characterizations, and he was never without some underlying humor. You can see the analyst deteriorate - he starts off with an ego as big as New York after getting his assignment, and bit by bit he descends into nervous breakdown-land. The other performances are excellent, from Godfrey Cambridge, Eduard Franz, Will Geer and the rest. But Daniels and Darling - priceless.Excellent film, highly recommended.

This just may be the best movie ever made about "The Phone Company", and now, in 2006, it is perhaps more important than ever. Back in 1967 it was a fantasy and a comedy, but today in the real news (and more importantly, in people's billing statements) it's more of a tragedy.Okay, fine - so that's really a topical 2006 joking interpretation, but I always felt this was a comedy classic, and I really do think it might do 2006 society a little good to have a laugh, and then give a thought about what, it seems, might be happening all over again. The prophetic view of everyone, everywhere, being connected wirelessly has now almost happened. Can we really be sure the evil parts aren't happening too?It's silly, it's imaginative to the point of fantastical (for 1967 anyway) and now it's practically topical all over again.