Truth or Mayor: To prove he’s sincere, big-city mayor hires video crew to shoot documentary of a typical year in office. Movie is at once candid and poignant as camera follows mayor through the excruciatingly painful process he uses to make his unpopular decisions. It begins with a long stint in a sweat lodge, followed by a dip in an icy lake, followed by a walk over hot coals. Then back to the sweat lodge, lake, coals, ad infinitum until a decision is reached. In his most ingenuous moments mayor invites selected businessmen and pols into bed with him and also prays, invoking the name of his father and various departed ward bosses. A perfect family movie, except perhaps for a few scenes in a shrink’s office in which mayor beats his breast and other body parts to protest his impotence over city’s problems.
