SALT LAKE CITY — “Mitt,” the documentary about Mitt Romney’s failed quest for the presidency, begins on Christmas Eve 2006, with Mr. Romney, his wife, Ann, and their five sons sitting in their Park City house, weighing the pros and cons of a Romney candidacy.

“I feel like if people really get to know who you are,” said Craig Romney, the youngest of the brood at 25 then, “it could be a successful campaign.”

Of course, the campaign was not successful, and many of Mr. Romney’s relatives and close friends feel that the nation never truly got to know the Mitt Romney — fun-loving husband and father, turnaround expert — they all adore. But “Mitt” offers an up-close, behind-the-scenes look at the man who could never quite connect with the voters he so desperately needed to persuade.

There is Mitt Romney the man of faith, kneeling in prayer with his family in a hotel room. There is Mitt Romney the self-aware presidential hopeful, acknowledging that he may be a “flawed candidate” because of his reputation as the “flipping Mormon.” And there is Mitt Romney on election night in 2012, cleareyed but stunned as he watches the country slip away. (“Boy, all those states, huh,” he says. “Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada.”)