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Capsule review: ‘Crawford’
When the circus comes to town, festive chaos uncorks. When it departs, behind are left matted fields, errant debris and a sighing breeze of emptiness and relief. Seven years of the George W. Bush circus in Crawford — which, in 1999, the then-presidential hopeful dubiously claimed as home — has left a marbled impression on the Mayberrian burg and its 700 residents. “The novelty has worn off,” twangs a local in David Modigliani’s textured documentary, which plays like a cardiogram of small-town sentiment after a prolonged but benign heart attack. Incessant media glare, battalions of law enforcement, thronged protests — Bush’s periodic presence upended local life in spasms. Good: The economy boomed. Bad: The folksy funhouse-mirror view of Crawford, fashioned by patronizing media, stirred resentment. Conventionally but lushly shot, the film’s at its best revealing a cacophony of ideologies within town limits. It yields surprising, satisfying dissonance.
1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Paramount
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