[size=3]I thought I was going to be enraptured by "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains," the new documentary from legendary filmmaker [b]Jonathan Demme[/b]. But I wasn't. It's not a bad film, but it's not that engaging.[/size] [size=3]Given the subject matter, Carter's highly controversial book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," it should have been riveting. Instead it was placid and barely turned its gaze to Middle Eastern issues. It doesn't seem that Demme has any serious interest in the Middle East. Carter is shown having many hard-hitting discussions with Middle East experts who took issue with his use of the word "apartheid." But every time such a conversation gets started, Demme cuts away to long, quiet shots of Carter walking through airports or riding in a rented SUV as he and a publicist ride to the next stop on the book tour. [/size] [size=3]The publicist appears not to have any interest in the content of the book. All that's on her mind is getting to the next destination on time. So why film her so much? Are the mechanics of a book tour interesting? I certainly don't think so.[/size] [size=3]The title of the film and its overall marketing strategy are misleading. They give the impression that the film is a general introduction to Mr. Carter and his work. It really is just a film about the Palestine book. Rosalynn Carter is barely in the film, and almost no one is interviewed. It's overwhelmingly just footage of Carter on the book tour. There is some video from his work with Habitat for Humanity and some old footage from the Peace Accord between Egypt and Israel, but not much.[/size] [size=3]As far as I know, there has been no major documentary about Carter made as of yet. Given that he is one of the few true thinkers of our epoch, you'd think we'd have one by now. If you're looking for such a thing, you won't get it here.[/size]