''An Unreasonable Man'' is a 2006

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

that traces the life and career of political activist

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He is a Perennial candidate, perennial presidential candidate. His 1965 book '' ...

, the founder of modern

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

in America and perennial presidential candidate. Contrary to the title's apparent message, the film was actually created to defend and support Nader, and to restore his reputation after his controversial role in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Besides featuring Mr. Nader himself, the film presents interviews with current and former members of Nader's Raiders, including Joan Claybrook and Robert Fellmeth, as well as political commentators such as

Phil Donahue Phillip John Donahue (December 21, 1935 – August 18, 2024) was an American media personality, writer, film producer, and the creator and host of '' The Phil Donahue Show''. The television program, later known simply as ''Donahue'', was the fir ...

Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan ( ; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative author, political commentator, and politician. He was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. He ...

, and Eric Alterman. The film takes its name from the

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

quotation, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Summary

The first half of the film examines Nader's advocacy for auto safety features, such as federally mandated

seat belts A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...

and air bags, as well as his rise to national prominence following an

invasion of privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 185 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. Since the global ...

lawsuit against

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

. It also examines the formation of independent advocacy groups (termed " Nader's Raiders") during the 1970s; organizations which carried out independent research on various federal agencies, such as the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

and the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

. Over the next thirty years, the film argues, Nader "built a legislative record that would be the envy of any modern president." The second half of the film traces Nader's shift to a grassroots form of organizing focused on citizen power, including his disillusionment with the

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referr ...

following the rise of Reaganism. The film examines Nader's effect as a third party candidate on the results of the controversial 2000 presidential election.

Response

The documentary has an aggregate of 92 percent based on 63 reviews on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, with the website's critics consensus calling it "a compelling documentary that humanizes the controversial, polarizing politician", and a score of 75 percent based on 24 review on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, indicating "generally positive reviews".

Festival screenings

*Meaford International Film Festival 2007 *Sundance Film Festival

Notes

External links

*
''An Unreasonable Man''
site for

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

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''An Unreasonable Man'' trailer (YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unreasonable Man 2006 films American documentary films Ralph Nader Works about consumer protection Documentary films about American politicians Films about activists 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films