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Jewish World Review Feb. 4, 2000 /29 Shevat, 5760
Julia Gorin
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
Neither is his upcoming stint this weekend as Roger Ebert’s co-host on "Roger Ebert and the Movies." "People Online" this week quoted Ebert as saying, "My impression is that here’s a guy who, if he didn’t have the White House screening room, would be at a multiplex." This weekend, then, could serve as the president’s audition for his friend and future boss—to demonstrate his cinema savvy. The man is thinking ahead. While other ex-presidents kick back and act dignified, this guy is looking for the next gig. For Ronald Reagan, show business turned out to be a vehicle that helped him win the presidency. For Bill Clinton, the presidency will have been a stepping stone into show business. He’s certainly made a lot of connections—some more intimately than others (e.g. Markie Post, Barbra Streisand, etc.--someone should have told him that if you’re already president, you don’t have to sleep your way into the industry.) Now I have no doubts that the president must have been kicking himself every year when Cannes and Sundance rolled around and he couldn’t go. I can just picture him pouting and complaining, "Gosh darnit! All my friends are at Cannes, and I have to spend the weekend with Boris again." So it turns out that his early saxophone-playing stint on "David Letterman" was prophetic. It’s a wonder he didn’t go to Yugoslavia to entertain the troops personally. What will his first Dreamworks project be, I wonder. A feature about how a group of evil Republicans conspired to topple an innocent but fun-loving leader? Or maybe a documentary on the overall Clinton presidency? (Never mind: that would be risking an NC-17 rating.) Perhaps he might even take an acting turn and star in one of his own productions. In his State of the Union Address last week, those in my company hailed him as an excellent actor. (Personally, I thought he was a bit over the top.) But why not? He never really struck me as a president; he seemed more like someone doing a poor impression of one. I could even imagine him, in a return favor to John Travolta, one day producing and starring in a TV movie of the latter’s life story. When the movie gets to the part where "Primary Colors" is made, Clinton can play Travolta playing Clinton.
I just hope he doesn’t start looking for something new again after
Dreamworks. Because if the politician/musician/producer/thespian should one
day also turn comedian--and show up at Caroline’s on a night when I’m
booked--I’m not getting
12/21/00: The Sport of Sitting
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