848 Film Critic Jonathan Miller reviews Andy McKenna’s campaign ad from WBEZ on Vimeo.

Let’s face it, campaign commercials for politicians are usually pretty dreadful.

Like a yearly bout with the common cold, every election cycle sees the public assaulted once again by a slew of dumb campaign ads that scrape the same bottom feeding mud that payday advance shops and local auto dealer commercials routinely wallow in.

There are no gray areas or ambiguities in these ads. There is only the good candidate with his great ideas and the evil candidate with his terrible ones and that division breaks down by whomever is paying for the ad.

Negative political ads always use the same tired imagery of sad or mad people, mixed with shots of a scowling opposition candidate and a heavy handed narration that promises endless doom and gloom for everyone if this terrible candidate wins.

Positive ads tend to mine a Norman Rockwellian gauzy alternative universe where a caring and always listening politician takes in the rich, folksy wisdom of his constituents. Usually this circle of friends moment takes place on a front porch or on some blue collar job site. Of course this scene never happens in real life, but if you looked at political ads as having any kernel of truth, you’d think that’s all our elected officials ever did in their spare time (instead of groveling for campaign contributions).

Film critic Jonathan Miller is looking at these ads in a whole new light.

Miller comes at each ad as if it were made for the art house set by Truffaut or Godard, deconstructing (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) these ads sometimes baffling barrage of strange imagery, message and meaning.

Essentially, forget that you are looking at a campaign ad for some hack running for Governor and imagine that the spot you are soaking in is the latest work from David Lynch or Werner Herzog. Brilliant.

Go here to see even more cinematic critiques of campaign ads from Jonathan Miller.