The Way I See It

Hot on the heels of John Lewis: Good Trouble, director Dawn Porter ups her game with another plea for common sense decency in The Way I See It.

The zippy, pleasant bio-doc on Pete Souza, White House photographer under Presidents Reagan and Obama, also doubles as one of the most measured, logical arguments that certain Trump administration practices are questionable and potentially dangerous in the short and long term.

Though Souza is an unapologetic liberal, the inclusion of his time with Reagan, during which all-access photography was encouraged, proves critical in building a nonpartisan case that unfiltered documentation of presidential doings is necessary to foster accountability and an accurate historical record.

Souza’s experience and expertise proves to be a valuable tool in making sense of the modern political landscape, and his analytical comparison of images of the Obama staff during and after the raid to kill Osama bin Ladin and that of the Trump team during Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is especially illuminating — and disturbing.

It also helps that Souza is a blast to be around and that his plentiful photos are a wonder to behold. Porter captures it all as if tagging along with an old friend and doing her part enthusiastically sharing his work with as many people as possible.

Grade: B-plus. Rated PG-13. Airs on MSNBC on Oct. 16

(Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson/Courtesy of Focus Features)