Al Franken was born in New York and brought up in the ultra-left state of Minnesota, and he made a reputation as a funnyman on, among other shows, the ribald Saturday Night Live. Among his specialities was impersonating the likes of Henry Kissinger.

But something has happened to Al Franken in the age of Bush - he got serious. This is a funny film about the seriousness of a funny man. Franken cannot decide these days whether he wishes to be a politician - a liberal of course - or whether there is anything left in the world about which to tell jokes. He runs around America wondering about this, and, yes, even meets Henry Kissinger who he impersonates to his face.