If they didn't seem silly enough at the time, the Clinton impeachment hearings look positively quaint in retrospect, about as historically and culturally significant as the pet rock. It's one thing to stumble into a perjury trap over a private affair; it's another to deceive the world on weapons of mass destruction, the connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, and other bogus justifications for war. Since Clinton was never going to be removed from office, the impeachment articles were a transparent political move, made all the more laughable by the soberness with which Kenneth Starr's salacious report was received in committee. As chairman Henry Hyde, Bob Barr, and other Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee stoked a haughty tone of moral outrage, it was left to Barney Frank, the openly gay congressman from Massachusetts, to be the assertive voice of reason.
Following Frank over a two-year period, director Bart Everly enjoyed unprecedented access to one of the cagiest and most outspoken politicians on the Hill, but Let's Get Frank lacks candor, which is the one element that would seem to be guaranteed. Perhaps inspired by Emile de Antonio's classic Joseph McCarthy documentary Point Of Order—a clip of which appears during a reference to "sexual McCarthyism"—Everly eats up most of the film's scant running time with C-SPAN footage of the impeachment hearings. Some of the friskier exchanges, typically between Hyde and Barr on one side and Frank and Maxine Waters on the other, mark such a side-splitting example of political theater that they outwit their Saturday Night Live parody.
Frank's prominent role in the Clinton debacle brought him full circle with his own sex scandal, which nearly ended his political career. Three years after becoming the first openly gay congressman, Frank was officially reprimanded by Congress for a scandal that involved a lover running a prostitution ring out of his D.C. home. Hard as the right-wing Washington Times tried to suggest that the ring was run with Frank's knowledge and approval, the charges never stuck, but he was widely expected to resign in shame. Now, nearly 15 years later, Frank remains a fiercely combative presence on the floor, with particular sensitivity toward issues of discrimination, marital rights, and other offshoots of the Culture War.
A better movie might have spent more time absorbing Frank's political philosophy or observing his unconventional life inside the Beltway, but Let's Get Frank keeps falling back on impeachment footage, much of which is virtually inaudible. He also neglects to make much hay over Dick Armey's infamous "Barney Fag" comment, which might have said a lot about the state of tolerance in Washington. Clearly working with scant resources—the sound throughout is so atrocious it could use subtitles—Everly tries to patch together a profile out of borrowed news clips and shoddy videography. In the process, Frank's charisma and force never emerge.