New Obama Video Is Pure 'Docu-Ganda'

Just a week after the trailer for the Obama re-election film hit the Internet, the full 17-minute version of The Road We've Traveled is now out on YouTube, reports USA Today. Narrated by Tom Hanks and directed by David Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth), Road is a slick look at President Obama's first term, focusing on his response to the economic crisis, the new health care program, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and other greatest hits. "Not since the days of Franklin Roosevelt had so much fallen on the shoulders of one president," intones Hanks.

But is it any good? Maybe as political propaganda, but not as a "documentary," is the general response. "Don't lie to the people (and me) and say it's a documentary when it's nothing more than a polished highlight reel," writes Joe Belcastro in Tampa's Examiner. "Call it what it is (and) save it for the campaign trail." Hank Stuever at the Washington Post also calls the film "propaganda"—"not sappy so much as it is busy," criticizing it for moving too quickly to have much impact. "This one is for the fans, and I think you know who you are." He even coins a phrase: This is "docu-ganda." (More President Obama stories.)