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Original Entry

Swing Vote

I don't remember seeing this movie advertised; the only reason I saw it is because Karrie's family was in town and when everyone went to the movies together I didn't want to see Mamma Mia! (or watch the newest Mummy movie by myself).

Swing VotePerhaps because of all of this, I was pleasantly surprised.  In case you are like me and have not heard of this movie, the story follows a Southwest redneck raising his genius daughter alone in an unheard-of town in the middle of nowhere while suffering from a drinking problem.  When an unlikely set of circumstances makes his as-yet-uncast vote the deciding factor in a presidential election, the whole world descends upon the town (including the two main candidates).

If you’re one of those people who didn’t like Wall•E because it hit a little too close to home in the environmental responsibility department, you might want to skip this movie.  It satires the United States election process well, and in many cases it’s not too far from the truth.  From the antics of the media to the lengths that candidates will go to to get your vote, I thought the movie created an exaggerated yet accurate portrayal of the process.  If you want to pretend that everything in election land is well, see another movie.

My one complaint about the movie was that it perpetuated the myth that you have to vote for one of the two primary candidates.  It made up for this slightly by showing that neither of the two primary candidates are really worth voting for most of the time.  The movie features an incumbent Republican running against a Democrat, and both are willing to promise the moon and tell lies about the other party in order to get elected (this was the realistic part).  What I really liked was seeing the behind-the-scenes action where the candidates interacted with (and sometimes questioned) their campaign managers.

A review of this movie wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Madeline Carroll, who portrays the daughter that loves school and is more interested in (and versed in) politics than her beer-swilling father.  This young actress did an outstanding job; seeing her is worth the price of admission.  Also notable was Kevin Costner as the drunk, low-IQ father.  Not his typical role, so I was quite skeptical of his ability to fill it.  I’m happy to report that he absolutely did.

Rating (out of 4):

Posted by: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) in Reviews and Movies on August 13, 2008 at 1:46 PM