THE FINAL YEAR

The access is inherently interesting. This documentary follows President Barack Obama’s foreign-policy staff during his final year in office, including Samantha Power, John Kerry, and Ben Rhodes as they travel and respond to international crises. It also accurately portrays the basic themes of the administration’s foreign policy and the personalities involved.

But the film offers little structure and almost no in-depth time with Obama himself. More seriously, it presents diplomacy and appeasement as the answer while failing to address major criticisms of Obama’s policies or the brutalities of regimes discussed in the film. Its treatment of important issues is shallow, mostly one-sided, and presented with a propagandistic tone.

Adults who can evaluate its political claims critically may find the subject matter worthwhile. For everyone else, especially families and viewers seeking honest dialogue, skip it.

During President Barack Obama’s last year in office, his senior foreign-policy officials travel around the world and respond to international issues.

The documentary centers more on U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, Secretary of State John Kerry, and National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes than on Obama himself. Their work involves urgent matters, such as violence in Syria, alongside less pressing diplomatic trips.

Two stars means the documentary has an interesting subject and some captivating access, but does not develop that material well.

The film gives viewers an inside look at Obama’s foreign-policy staff and accurately presents the policy’s basic themes and the personalities involved. It also includes some positive moral content, including attention to the sacrifices of American troops and John Kerry’s protest against Russia’s bombing of an aid convoy.

However, there is little to no structure. The documentary lacks a clear beginning, middle, or climactic ending. Its analysis is shallow, misguided, unrealistic, and mostly one-sided, leaving it a weak treatment of an inherently interesting subject.

The film presents a strongly liberal, leftist, politically correct, and multicultural approach to foreign policy. It exalts reaching out to other nations, diplomacy, peace, and avoiding military force. It also supports the film’s stated environmentalist and revisionist perspectives.

The central problem is that the documentary treats this idealistic approach as though it works while failing to consider the brutalities of regimes such as Communist Cuba and Iran, or the many criticisms of Obama’s foreign policy. The review argues that a more realistic approach would acknowledge the self-interest of other nations and support diplomacy with military strength. The film’s sympathetic presentation therefore becomes a shallow apology for appeasement rather than a searching analysis.

The documentary also repeatedly shows Muslims in Muslim garb while showing Christians only rarely and no Israeli or Jewish officials. The review sees this imbalance, along with the film’s politically correct outlook, as possibly expressing a desire to replace Christianity, Judaism, the Bible, and traditional American values rooted in America’s biblical heritage with Islam.

Still, the film includes moral elements. Obama speaks about the sacrifices of American troops, and his desire to stop violence and promote peace is admirable, even if naïve. Scripture gives government a more serious responsibility: “he does not bear the sword in vain” (Romans 13:4).

THE FINAL YEAR has an interesting subject and valuable access, but its weak structure, shallow analysis, and propagandistic treatment of foreign policy make it a poor choice for family viewing or balanced political reflection. For discerning adults who want this subject, approach it critically; otherwise, choose another film. SKIP IT.