Man With a Plan

Man With a Plan
by John O'Brien

Man With a Plan

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Product details

Actor: Bill Blachly, Bruce Lyndes, Bryan Pfeiffer, Fred Tuttle, Jim Wallace
Director: John O'Brien
Cinematographer: John O'Brien
Producer: John O'Brien
Writer: John O'Brien
Cinematographer: Richard Morse
Producer: Richard Morse
Producer: Jack Rowell
Producer: Molly O'Brien
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 89 minutes
Release Date: 1999-08-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Acorn Media
Studio: Acorn Media

VHS Movie Reviews of Man With a Plan

Movie Review: "Man with a Plan" IS available on DVD!
Summary: 5 Stars

Good news for all of you fellow Fred fans! MAN WITH A PLAN is available on DVD from Vermont Public Television! The DVD even includes extras! Vermont Public Television has a web site and you can order the DVD there. Not sure why amazon says it hasn't been released on DVD. Methinks somebody dropped the ball ...

Movie Review: Very relevant - even in 2005.
Summary: 5 Stars

This was the most enjoyable movie I've seen for a long time. Our whole family got a kick out of it and wish that Fred was still around - he'd be our choice! Thought provoking, yet tongue in cheek humor made it a great movie to watch.

Movie Review: The Cinderella of Political Spoofdom
Summary: 5 Stars

"Man With a Plan" is a low budget production with enough of the right stuff to receive serious, national review. This film delves deeply into the core of both people and politics and finds that place where the two ultimately meet, in a campy, fairytale-like political satire. "Man With a Plan" stands on its own with strong praise, but also later acquires a certain priceless quality due to political events following the release of the film. In it, Fred Tuttle and his opponent, Bill Blachly, each play themselves. Blachly is Tuttle's morally questionable opponent and long standing incumbent, in this hilarious mock documentary.

The tool to rise to this ultimate accomplishment is none other than what locally, and even nationally, could be considered one of the most honest souls we can find. Fred Tuttle is a Vermont native, which is quite different than being a person who is born and raised there. He is, as Vermonters would say, a "true native", embodying core virtues and no worldly qualifications, all harkening back across the centuries, to the heralded days when America began, and all are remembered as unquestionable in virtue. Throughout this film, as in life, questions of profound merit are rarely, if ever, worded directly, but the film itself could not possibly exist without them. The presence of Fred lights the way.

Indeed, the proof in granting such lofty praise appears in real life shortly after this film is produced. The film immediately sparks hundreds of write-in votes in that year's congressional race. Fred Tuttle, through our democratic process, then wages a $230 political campaign and receives the majority of his states' republican votes, gaining his parties' nomination for congress, thereafter withdrawing from the race and announcing his support for the opposing, democratic candidate. (We'll have to say Pat Leahy does not liken well to our Bill Blachly portrayal) Tuttle states that he just wanted to make his point, that the people would vote for a true native, (granted, he did have this satirical production to precede him), and, well, they did.

Beyond the fundamental tenet of the film, there are satirical highlights along the way, such as the unforgettable "why not?" campaign slogan, the nonsensical FRED agenda, and the string of voters as they state their absurd rationalizations. I found one scene in particular where there were problems with the car door a bit too campy, but that the overall production moves along nicely with its storyline throughout. I enjoyed the original musical arrangements, and O'Brien's occasional sprinkling of this Cinderella tale with pretty, pastoral settings. Tastefully creative.

I would have to call this film as flying a bit over a youngster's head, in which case I think it would be as confusing as it would be anything else. "Man With a Plan" is thoroughly satirical, and you might just find it to be, as I have, a "must have" for anyone with an interest in politics, or people.

Movie Review: RIP, Fred Tuttle
Summary: 5 Stars

Sadly, Fred Tuttle passed away on October 4, 2003. We sure coulda used him running for President!

Movie Review: More news about Fred...
Summary: 5 Stars

Fred is alive and still pretty well in Tunbridge, and can be seen (sometimes nearly run over) walking from his home to town and back most days. He uses a cane to get around now, but still has the same terrific smile, and never hesitates to say "hello" and share a friendly word or two. If you can find it, pick up the CD "Fred Speaks" on which he tells stories of his and his community's past, with great humor. Hearing his history ( the real one, not just the one for the movies)brought tears to my eyes when I realized just how quickly these folks are passing from our lives, and taking a huge piece of the core of Vermont with them. Makes you want to go ask an older person for a few stories before it's too late.

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Summary of Man With a Plan

Fred H. Tuttle is the man with a plan. At 73 years of age, the retiree discovers he cannot pay his property taxes and that his elderly father and old car need costly attention. Unable to resume dairy farming, Tuttle follows his father's advice and runs for U. S. Congress, because it is the highest paying job an inexperienced man with a 10th-grade education can get.

This spoof documentary follows the travails of Tuttle's Regressive Party as it slowly steals away votes from slick incumbent William Blachly. The public quickly figures out that Tuttle may be a charming old coot with no political sense, but Blachly is at best an ineffective congressman and at worst a thief. While Tuttle is kissing babies and attending fairs, Blachly stoops to spying on Tuttle and setting him up for a scandal. Tuttle and Blachly play themselves. Fake news shows, TV advertisements, and campaign strategists pepper the documentary with realism. Although it is a comedy, the video launches some very fair criticisms at the campaign and election processes. Note that after the success of this film, Fred Tuttle really did run for Congress! --Margaret Griffis

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