![‘Playing Potus’ Review: Comedy Doc Pulls Back The Curtain On Presidential Impersonations, Revealing More Than It Can Handle [Tribeca]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/08133454/Playing-POTUS-Clean-16x9-01.jpg "‘Playing Potus’ Review: Comedy Doc Pulls Back The Curtain On Presidential Impersonations, Revealing More Than It Can Handle [Tribeca]")
A documentary stuck between two gears, humorous and analytical, “Playing POTUS” never quite figures out what it wants to be, undercutting the very real quality of what it is trying to say. Staffed with a raft of comedy legends that define the television era of American political comedy, the film isn’t wanting for authorities on the subject. It provides some marvelous insight into the creation of the genre’s most memorable send-ups. Where it gets into trouble is when it reaches for more, teasing out broader discussions that don’t match the documentary’s tone or scope.
This clash in tone hits the audience right from the jump, mixing a serious, driving strings score with comedy legends like Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, Keegan-Michael Key, Chevy Chase, Alec Baldwin, Maya Rudolph, and Kate McKinnon cracking jokes against a solemn faux-Morgan Freeman narration. It’s a disorienting start, but to its credit, “Playing POTUS” course-corrects a bit from here, switching to a light, jazzy score beneath a history of television’s first POTUS impersonator: Vaughn Meader. It outlines the rocky relationship subsequent presidents had with comedians doing similar routines, including Rich Little and his Richard Nixon bits. It moves on to the premiere of ‘Saturday Night Live’ and its work in the genre. And while other comedians and shows like ‘Key and Peele’ or ‘Mad TV’ receive some attention, SNL and its string of both good and bad presidential impressions are the documentary’s primary focus.
And for a little while, that’s just fine and dandy. Dana Carvey unpacks the development of his Bush Sr. impression as a combination of John Wayne and Mr. Rogers, peeling back the layers of how these kinds of routines are developed over time. It’s insightful and humorous, and if all this documentary had strived to be was a combination history lesson and a how-to tutorial on sausage-making, that would have been fine… but it isn’t.
Director Josh Greenbaum is examining how humor works within a functioning democracy, asking how the growing tide of fascism in the United States has affected not just presidential impression work but comedy writ large. Yet like the strings playing underneath a half-assed Morgan Freeman V.O. at the beginning, it just doesn’t jive with the broader product. This split focus feels like an attempt to connect two things that appear to go together yet fundamentally cannot: like ice skating on smooth concrete.
Is this an exploration of the mechanics of comedy and the process of character work, or a referendum on how that comedy might have moved the needle for 537 Florida voters in 2000? On the surface, these topics are indeed related. Yet, one has deadly serious consequences and speaks to the terrifying changes in the broader geopolitical landscape, and the other is buttressed by Frank Caliendo doing silly voices.
“Playing POTUS” wants to do both, yet as it moves into discussions about comedy in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and Trump’s ascendancy over the last decade, this clash in tone becomes cacophonous. Greenbaum and the documentary don’t shy away from the prescient nature of their topic in light of the current administration’s public comments about comedian critics like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, or even Alec Baldwin, and that feels reasonable and responsible in the moment. That’s not the story the first two-thirds of “Playing POTUS” is telling, however, even if it does seem of a piece with the larger narrative’s tapestry.
One minute, Will Ferrell is talking about the construction of his Bush Jr. impression, and the next, he’s lamenting how the bits might have been the deciding factor for the election versus Gore. Likewise, Kate McKinnon delights in her discovery of Hillary Clinton as a character with exaggerated hand movements in one breath, then deals with the tangible and visibly painful knowledge that this might have played a part in Trump’s victory in 2016 with another.
There’s room enough for both sides of that story, and maybe someone will be able to crack the code of how to discuss each in the same venue, but “Playing POTUS” ain’t it. For those on the conservative side of the political spectrum, the documentary will come across as little more than liberal back-slapping, while sane and reasonable individuals will see this as a crushing reminder of how much has been lost these last ten years. It’s a tough sell all around, and is made even worse by a decidedly American-centric purview, which treats the topic like a sacrosanct Yankee tradition.
This last point is a difficult one to get over, too, as “Playing POTUS” suggests that England, Germany, France, and other democratic countries don’t have a voice in discussions about artists speaking truth to power. And while there are some interesting bits to be found in the different generations of evolving presidential comedy, the documentary makes a pretty convincing case that there’s more to this topic than meets the eye. It just isn’t going to be found here. [D]
Warren Cantrell is a film and music critic based out of Seattle, Washington. Mr. Cantrell has covered the Sundance and Seattle International Film Festivals, and provides regular dispatches for Scene-Stealers.com. Warren holds a B.A. and M.A. in History, and his hobbies include bourbon drinking, novel writing, and full-contact kickboxing.
