Hell on Wheels world premiere, Sunday, March 11 Credit: Photo By Todd V. Wolfson

Running with Arnold

D: Dan Cox

President Arnie? Don’t laugh. No one took Arnold Schwarzenegger the bodybuilder seriously when he said he wanted to be a movie star. Then no one took him seriously when he promised to jump from silver screen to state house. Running With Arnold is about Schwarzenegger’s pumped-up chest – his $150 million electoral war chest – and what he plans to do with it. What’s frightening is that director Cox doesn’t dig up anything new on the Governator. He doesn’t need to. What’s already out there – the sexual-harassment claims, pandering to donors, and some very suspect links to Enron – is bad enough. With sonorous narration by Alec Baldwin, he puts together a patchwork of material that makes Arnie’s election and re-election as California governor both terrifying and baffling. This Schwarzenegger is the new Reagan, a ruthless, callous, pro-corporate heart under a cloak of social liberalism and a bunch of one-liners. Constitutional barrier or no, if Arnie says he wants to be president, people should take him seriously.

– Richard Whittaker

This article appears in March 16 • 2007.

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James graduated from Columbia University in 2000 and moved to Austin a year later. Ever since, he has followed the arts and video game scene in ATX, editing and writing stories for the Chronicle along the way. Over his more than 20 years with the paper he has climbed the "corporate" ladder from lowly intern to managing editor.

The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.