Palin Documentary Flops With Both Audiences and Critics

The Undefeated, a documentary about Sarah Palin, opened Friday to virtually empty theaters and dismissive reviews from even the more objective film critics.

The Atlantic describes the film as "framing its subject as a Christ-like savior of an America that's lost its fiscal and spiritual way," and The Village Voice calls it "less a documentary than a glowing two-hour infomercial for Sarah Palin, Presidential Candidate To-Be." The Undefeated currently carries a 34 approval rating on movie review aggregator MetaCritic.com.

The film opened on 10 screens across the United States, and The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf reports that during the showing he attended in Orange County, Calif., the audience consisted of just him, two women who left after 20 minutes, and a couple who came to make out in the back of the theater, but departed before the film was over.

Still, Palin may make it to a podium come awards season. In an interview with Los Angeles Times, John Wilson, founder of the Razzie awards, which honor the worst in film, thinks Palin could emerge victorious. "She's the political equivalent of what the Razzies are all about," Wilson says. "And she's hysterically funny if you don't stop and think, Oh, my God, she could've been vice president!" If Palin wins, she won't be the first politician to take the dubious honor. Former president George W. Bush and former secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld won Razzies for appearing in Michael Moore's 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11.