From Texas Standard:
The showdown between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke for Cruz's U.S. Senate seat has started to gain some hefty national attention. It's also the topic of a soon-to-be-released documentary by award-winning Texas documentarian and University of Texas film lecturer, Steve Mims.
Mims embedded himself in the race as soon as O'Rourke announced his candidacy. The film "Run Like the Devil" covers the campaigns of both candidates, and Mims says it's turned out to be a pretty compelling saga between the two men. The film looks at both candidates' personal lives as well as the contentious issues that are central to their campaigns. Mims says he tried to challenge the idea that filmmakers would automatically favor O'Rourke and would paint an unfair portrait of Cruz.
"We tried to lay it out as honestly and fairly as we could...and stick to the things that made them who they are," Mims says. "We bent over backwards to do that."
Indeed, Mims says some test audiences complained that Cruz appeared in the film too much.
Mims says over the course of filming, he discovered that Cruz and O'Rourke are actually quite similar in personality, despite their disparate family backgrounds.
"The two guys are so similar, that's what's interesting," Mims says. "They both went to Ivy League schools...[but] their upbringings could not be more different."
The documentary is a long-form piece, as opposed to the short news segments people are used to seeing the candidates portrayed in. That means Mims can show the nuances people often miss about Cruz and O'Rourke.
"It fills in a lot of gaps for people, it's the same way that you can read a quote and it's totally different from hearing someone say it," Mims says.
The film opens across Texas on September 6.
Written by Caroline Covington.
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