Swing Vote by Joshua Michael Stern (2008)
3 August 2008The movie that Kevin Costner put his own money into to get it made, and which is totally bombing. I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would, though the whole movie is basically a one line thesis, about how messed up American media and elections have become along both parties. It is a good message, but overall the film is a let down. Costner is fine, as is the girl who played his daughter, but this film should have been done for much less money, with less stars in it to save money. It did not need to be an expensive film, and it obviously was. which I think hurt the film. I give it something like a 6 out of 10. The whole film leads up to the speech at the end, but you know how it has to end, and there wasn’t enough meat to really make it matter. A nice enough concept, but not that well pulled off.
Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner) is a loser living in a trailer park, who inspects eggs for damage, but who is watching all the white workers be replaced by Mexicans, what he calls insourcing. The one good thing in his life is his lovely young daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll) who is brilliant and lively, and wants her dad to be good, and care, but has trouble getting him to remember anything. Molly wants Bud to vote, and registers him, and makes him promise to meet her at the polling facility, but Bud loses his job and gets drunk. When Molly realizes that Bud won’t show up, she sneaks in to vote for him, but the machine loses power, and he the machine has an error. Officials show up in the night to tell Bud that he will be given a recount in 10 days, and it turns out that the entire presidential election will in fact be in his hands, as he is the swing vote, between the Republican incumbent President Andrew Boone (Kelsey Grammar) and the Democratic contender Donald Greenleaf (Dennis Hopper). The two camps realize that they just have to convince one man, and start doing all they can to get him to change.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
A local reporter named Kate Madison (Paula Patton) exposes Bud, and makes him a media sensation, and both Presidential Candidates head in to try and make Bud chose them. Bud goes to airforce one, and a party for Greenleaf, and keeps waffling in his decision.
And the two candidates and their campaign advisers, the Presidents is Martin Fox (Stanley Tucci) and Greenleaf’s is Art Crumb (Nathan Lane) start changing their entire platforms to please bud, making complete changes, and ridiculously funny adds, and giving up their ideals.
Molly meanwhile is reading and answering all the letters that Bud is getting, and trying to get him to care, but he doesn’t even remember when he is supposed to go to school with her for father’s day. While Bud just enjoys his celebrity, but people in his town start to hate him.
Kate also learns that Bud didn’t vote, and is going to exploit, but realizes that she doesn’t want to do that, and helps Molly to teach Bud, as he is going to have a final debate, where he asks all the questions.
Bud has the debate, and starts asking questions from people who sent them in, the real questions that people want to know.
••••
A one hit wonder, maybe worth seeing on cable, and does make a good point, but there isn’t enough meet to the film.
Feedback
You must be logged in to post a comment.