Review: Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion

Despite this being a piece of agitprop in favor of CFPB from prior to it's creation—and thus not very funny—it's still a great showcase of comedic talent that I want to talk about.

I'm sure there are a lot of ideas about what makes a good celebrity impression. Certainly there are a lot of techniques. But if you ask me, a good impression is equal parts mocking and complimentary. It's a hyper-accurate portrayal of the person.

Put another way, a good impression is neither fawning nor spiteful. Let's consider how each stacks up.

We start with Armisen's Obama, which is incredibly bland. One might argue that Obama himself was bland and so the material just wasn't there. No. Playing Obama as simply dull is being gentle. A good impersonation would portray him as dull to the point of somnambulism.

I'm gonna skip over  Michelle b/c she's basically a prop in this scene and I'm not as familiar with Rudolph's other portrayals of her.

Next, in order of appearance, is Hammon's Clinton. Hammond did an admirable job both here and on SNL. Sadly, his portrayal pales against the memory of Phil Hartman, but it is good. This bit leans heavy on mocking Clinton's licentiousness, but he still portrays his charm.

Ferrell's Bush is likewise in-step. To peek ahead a little, Ferrell could have fallen into the trap that Chase does with Ford but didn't. He plays Bush affably as well as doltish, leaning a little too hard to the doltish side, but not too much.

Next is the consummate Dana Carvey portraying Bush 41. This sketch is a poor showcase for the impression, but in the day, Carvey had it nailed (along with Perot). Carvey captures the awkward stiffness of the man in trying to utter quips while being true to his wonkish side.

Aykroyd's Carter always seemed just plain off-the-mark to me. Too Colonel Sanders and not enough of the man himself. Just impossible to rate because it doesn't really fit.

Hard as it may be for some fans of the Gipper to admit, Carrey's portrayal of Reagan is downright loving. I don't mean it's overly kind, but it shows a deep study of the subject. The line between jab and flattery is completely blurred and it just seems like a fun cartoon.

(As an aside, once again we are robbed of Phil Hartman's portrayal of Reagan, which was fair, though Clinton was easily his better subject.)

As I said earlier, Chase falls into a trap of just insulting Ford. This goes back to his SNL days as well. There's something of the subject in the portrayal, but it's mostly just an excuse to pratfall. In the Funny or Die sketch, Chase is mainly Lamp😉😉ning himself.

To close, a thought on why there don't seem to be any standout Trump impersonators…yet. Most are too focused on mocking the man. They mimic ticks, not personality. This may in part be because Trump is already playing a celebrity caricature of himself. We'll see what comes.

[Update: 12/5/2018—Unbeknownst to me at the time of writing this article, Alec Baldwin had already won an Emmy for his portrayal of Trump. This was more likely a political move than one based on talent. Baldwin's clear hatred for his subject ruins any possibility of being funny. Despite this, he is now locked into the role.]