Swing Vote Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)August 1st, 2008
SWING VOTE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2008 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
SWING VOTE almost got my vote until its long and treacly last act. Starting slowly, the picture builds momentum so that its middle section is a wonderfully endearing comedy about a lovable loser, played by Kevin Costner, who gets to single-handedly pick the next president of the United States. It's certainly an honor that Bud Johnson (Costner) dreamed not of. Happiest when he is downing another beer with buddies, the aptly nicknamed Bud is an everyman character straight out of a Capra comedy. Drinking on the job, showing up late and taking what must be a record number of "sick" days, Bud is fired from the egg packing factory where he works in a tiny town in New Mexico.
When comedies set out to skewer politicians, as SWING VOTE does, they work best when they are able to maintain a consistent tone. The long middle section of SWING VOTE does just that. Like WAG THE DOG and CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, SWING VOTE is an equal opportunity and politically incorrect ridiculer of politicians. There are very funny bits during this part of SWING VOTE, as the laughs come hard and often.
But forty minutes before this excessively long comedy is over, it switches gears entirely, violating all of its principles. It no longer is interested in making us laugh. Now it wants to lecture us with sappy sermonettes on the importance of the little man and the downtrodden. This cheesy drama is as worthless and trite as the comedy is fresh and cute. Perhaps the way to enjoy this movie is to leave as soon as it starts going downhill. That way, you'll have a good time and will remember the movie fondly. But, if you stay until the end, be ready to leave with a bad taste in your mouth. You'll probably be angry too that the filmmakers needlessly blew it, turning a good movie into one not worth recommending.
The silly setup for the story, which manages to work just fine in the context of a comedy, is that Bud's vote isn't counted because of a power failure. The election is so close that the result of a single state, New Mexico, will determine who will be the next president. New Mexico ends in a tie vote.
Will President Andrew Boone (Kelsey Grammer), a Republican, be reelected, or will Donald Greenleaf (Dennis Hopper), his Democrat challenger, be elected instead? Both candidates are doofuses. But both are fully willing to shamelessly abandon all of their previous political positions, no matter how intensely and fervently held, in order to pander to Bud's every whim -- even to things Bud doesn't even believe but they mistakenly think he does. The best scenes are hilarious commercials prepared by each side in order to try to get Bud's revote, which, by New Mexico law, must occur within ten days after the original election.
The catch to the story is that Bud himself never made it to the polls on Election Day. He was drunk as usual, so his daughter Molly, played with wonderfully likeable spunk by 12-year-old Madeline Carroll, attempted to cast Bud's vote for him. A further complication is that Bud is oblivious to who is even running. Only Molly cares about the election and the importance of citizens voting.
It's too bad that Molly wasn't given a final vote on the script. Maybe she could have negotiated with the writers to give us a brisk and bright 90-minute comedy rather than a full two-hour part good comedy and part bad melodrama.
SWING VOTE runs a long 2:00. It is rated PG-13 for "language" and would be acceptable for kids around 8 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 19, gave it just barely **. Although he said that the movie had its moments, he said that it made two hours feel like ten. He thought it took too long to get started, and he hated the last part. He found Bud's drinking problem to be sad rather than funny. Jeffrey's girlfriend Yasmin, almost 19, really liked the whole idea of the plot but didn't like the movie itself, giving it just **. She liked the commercials in the movie but didn't think much of the rest of it. She did, however, like the daughter. Yasmin especially did not like the very final scene of the movie.
The film opens in nationwide release in the United States on Friday, August 1, 2008. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: [email protected]
***********************************************************************
Want reviews of new films via Email?
Just write [email protected] and put "subscribe" in the subject line.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
