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Cast and Crew
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Director... Mora Stephens
Producer and Editor... Joel Viertel
Screenplay... Joel Viertel and Mora Stephens
Original Music... H. Scott Salinas and Danny Manor
Directors of Photography... Andreas Burgess and Brian O'Carroll
Production Design... Steve Swenson
Production Coordinator... Sharri Hefner
David Massey... Matthew Mabe
Lea Jones... Woodwyn Koons
Dylan Murtaugh... Alek Friedman Lev
Senator Feder... Sandy Feder
Nat Jones... Robert O'Gorman
Wayne... Wayne Price
Elena Murtaugh... Krista Kujat
Matt... Matthew Korahais
Ann Cameron... Kate Duyn
Elizabeth Massey... Alicia Harding
and
Hans... Trevor Murphy

Review by Dennis Harvey

A successful mix of scripted drama with on-location improv, and a rare instance of U.S. narrative cinema that engages the politics of the moment, Mora Stephens' "Conventioneers" refreshes on several levels. Tale of a liberal and conservative renewing an old attraction during the 2004 Republican National Convention avoids polemics and caricature for a naturalism that accrues considerable punch.
Beginning two days before the convention -- with much footage shot among the surrounding protests and in Madison Square Garden itself -- feature establishes the principal characters in brisk strokes. Evidently a rising politico who's just moved to D.C. with his (unhappy) wife, Dave (Matthew Mabe) is a gung-ho, clean-cut, square-jawed Bush supporter representing his Texas home state.
As Dave settles in to his hotel and commences networking, Lea (Woodwyn Koons) is hard at work with activist organizers, prepping anti-Bush actions to take place throughout the week. Her New Haven-based life seems as untethered as Dave's is buttoned-down, with no real career and scant income at age 30 -- lacks driven home by her father (Robert O'Gorman), who she's staying with while in town. Dad passes along a message from Dave, Lea's old college friend, who's thought to look her up during his first-ever Manhattan visit.
Attraction flickers anew, even as their reunion in a cafe degenerates into furious political debate. Both soon regret that, and after a next day's drink or 12 they're going at it in his hotel room. Still, the sex can't prevent politics from driving a wedge between them.
Seesawing relationship, complicated by Dave's iffy marriage and Lea's Connecticut boyfriend, unfolds "Medium Cool"-style against the backdrop of real, divisive public events, culminating amid thousands of street protestors during the convention's close.
Pic's biggest how-did-they-do-that coup is a long shot at the actual convention of Bush with another character, left-sympathizer Dylan (Alek Friedman), a professional sign-language interpreter whose job and politics have led him to a career crisis... a mule's-kick epilogue plants a toe on acid Neil LaBute terrain.
Finely penned and played characters are a mass of grey zones, their conflicting high ideals often colliding into personal weak points. Focused as she is politically, Lea for instance is childishly oversensitive toward criticism, while often insensitive toward others' feelings. Koons, Friedman and Mabe in particular are all terrific.
"Conventioneers'" achievement lies in its honoring the sincerity and passion on both sides. Script by Stephens and producer-editor-spouse Joel Viertel walks a tricky middle path with seemingly casual, semi-improvised aplomb. En route, it manages more than a little humor, genuine sexiness, and breaking-news immediacy.
Package balances verite feel and pro polish on a budgetary whisper. Offbeat score by H. Scott Salinas and Danny Manor is a significant plus.
Closing credits note that many of the crew were arrested and detained by the New York Police Dept. while videotaping outdoors during convention week.

CONVENTIONEERS follows MASSEY, a Republican delegate to the RNC who falls into an unlikely affair with a girl he knew in college -- LEA, a Liberal who has returned to the city to protest the Republican agenda. Both are political virgins, who have surrounded themselves with like-minded colleagues and have never really confronted the enemy in the flesh. At the same time, DYLAN -- a former protester who dropped out of the scene after becoming a father -- must also confront his dedication to the cause when he is hired as a sign language interpreter for the President's speech at the convention. When he tells his activist friends about the job, they try to convince him to stage a protest during the Presidents speech instead. The tension builds as Dylan reaches the convention floor itself, takes his place next to the President, while Massey and Lea try and find each other in the chaos outside. What follows will test their beliefs about politics, love and commitment, and will push buttons on both sides of the divide.
Shooting entirely in New York, director Mora Stephens and producer Joel Viertel utilized the 2004 Republican National Convention by incorporating events of the RNC into the storyline of the film. The film blends actors with real events and real activists from both sides of the aisle, and features breakthrough performances by actors Matthew Mabe and Woodwyn Koons as the two star-crossed lovers and Alek Friedman as the interpreter, all of whom must choose between their political ideals and their personal desires during the tumultuous days of the convention.