Main Cast: Ralph Nader, Jay Acton, Theresa Amato, Pat Buchanan, Peter Camejo
Release Year: 2005
Country: US
Run Time: 122 minutes
Plot
The life and career of one of America's most tenacious consumer advocates and political activists is brought to the screen in this richly detailed documentary. Born in a small town in Connecticut, Ralph Nader was raised to believe the words of his father that "you can fight city hall," and Nader made a nationwide reputation for his willingness to take on the wealthy and powerful. After receiving a degree from Harvard Law School, Nader first became a household name in 1965 with his book Unsafe at Any Speed, in which he detailed the auto industry's willingness to sacrifice safety in the name of greater profits. The book so outraged General Motors that they hired investigators to dig up dirt on Nader and make trouble for him; the plan backfired when Nader sued for invasion of privacy and walked away with a 425,000-dollar settlement that he used to set up an activist group to investigate both public servants and private commerce and how they live up to their responsibilities. However, Nader's long career as a incorruptible watchdog was tarnished in 2004 when Nader ran for president in a campaign that attracted a great deal of attention for a third party candidate -- and was blamed by many Democrats for drawing enough votes away from Al Gore to allow George W. Bush to walk away with an extremely narrow victory. An Unreasonable Man was directed by Henriette Mantel and Stephen Skrovan, the former of whom worked as a member of Nader's staff in the '70s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Cast
Ralph Nader
Jay Acton
Theresa Amato
Pat Buchanan
Peter Camejo
Scott Carter; Joan Claybrook; John Conyers; Karen Croft; Phil Donahue; James Fallows; Michael Feinstein; Todd Gitlin; Dr. Richard Grossman; Greg Kafoury; Jason Kafoury; Carl Mayer; Tarek Milleron; Morton Mintz; Ross Mirkarimi; Jim Musselman; Claire Nader; Laura Nader; Bryce Nelson; James Ridgeway; Harvey Rosenfield; Donald Ross; Robert Weissman; Dr. Sidney Wolfe
Credit
Henriette Mantel - Director, Stephen Skrovan - Director, Beth Gallagher - Editor, Alexis Provost - Editor, Henriette Mantel - Executive Producer, Stephen Skrovan - Executive Producer, Joe Kraemer - Composer (Music Score), Steven Elkins - Camera Operator, Sandra Chandler - Camera Operator, Matt Davis - Camera Operator, Leigh Wilson - Camera Operator, Melissa Donovan - Camera Operator, John Chater - Cinematographer, Mark Raker - Cinematographer, Kevin O'Donnell - Producer, Elizabeth Olson - Research, Ellie Knaus - Research, Craig Clark - Sound/Sound Designer
An Unreasonable Man is a 2006[3]documentary film that traces the life and career of political activist Ralph Nader, the founder of modern consumer protection. The film examines Nader's advocacy for auto safety features, such as federally mandated seat belts and air bags, as well as his rise to national prominence following an invasion of privacy lawsuit against General Motors. It also examines the formation of independent advocacy groups (termed "Nader's Raiders") during the 1970s; organizations which carried out independent research on various federal agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration. Over the next thirty years, the film argues, Nader "built a legislative record that would be the envy of any modern president."
The film makes use of interviews with current and former members of Nader's Raiders, including Joan Claybrook and Robert Fellmeth, as well as politicians and political analysts such as Phil Donahue, Pat Buchanan, and Eric Alterman. It takes its name from the George Bernard Shaw quote, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
