Dave (1993)

Director:

Ivan Reitman

Writer (WGA):

Gary Ross (written by)

Release Date:

7 May 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

In a country where anybody can become President, anybody just did

Plot:

To avoid a potentially explosive scandal when the U.S. President goes into a coma, an affable temp agency owner with an uncanny resemblance, is put in his place.

Plot Keywords:

First Lady | Stroke | Chief Of Staff | Sex | U.S. President

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Kevin Kline	...	Dave Kovic / Bill Mitchell
Sigourney Weaver	...	Ellen Mitchell
Frank Langella	...	Bob Alexander
Kevin Dunn	...	Alan Reed
Ving Rhames	...	Duane Stevenson
Ben Kingsley	...	Vice-President Nance
Charles Grodin	...	Murray Blum
Faith Prince	...	Alice
Laura Linney	...	Randi
Bonnie Hunt	...	White House Tour Guide
Parley Baer	...	Senate Majority Leader
Stefan Gierasch	...	House Majority Leader
Anna Deavere Smith	...	Mrs. Travis
Charles Hallahan	...	Policeman
Tom Dugan	...	Jerry

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 | Italy:T | Norway:11 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions

Trivia:

The president's full name in the movie is William Harrison Mitchell; William Henry Harrison was a real president elected in 1840 and the first president to die in office. The vice president in the movie is named Nance; John Nance Garner was Franklin D. Roosevelt's vice president for two terms, and once derided the job as not being "worth a pitcher of warm piss" (bowdlerized at the time and often misquoted as "spit").

Goofs:

Continuity: In a latter scene, Dave is meeting the VP in the Oval Office. As they enter the office, the tall clock in the background shows 10:30. Several minutes later the clock shows again in the background. The time is still 10:30.

Quotes:

Alan Reed: [trying to convince Dave to take the job] Imagine that the entire United States of America is in the car.
Dave: In the car?
Alan Reed: In the car!
Bob Alexander: And you've got to get it to the hospital.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Echelon Conspiracy/Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li/Crossing Over (#1.1)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Louie Louie

About as good as a Kevin Kline film gets, I suppose

Having not seen more than 4-5 Kevin Kline films, I can't say if this is the way all his films play out, but it certainly seems like it. As usual(?), he plays two different characters, and manages to keep their personalities separate. The plot is good, and somewhat original(though I guess there are plenty of older comedies with basically the same idea). The pacing is good, you're rarely bored, even on repeated viewings. The acting is all good, there wasn't really any of the performances that seemed off to me. The characters are well-written, credible and well-cast. Kline is great as the ordinary guy asked to play President as well as the actual President, Sigourney Weaver is good as the bitter First Lady and Ving Rhames is perfect as the hard-core tough guy Secret Service agent. The humor is pretty good, rarely going below the belt and generally keeping it 'real' whilst still maintaining a good level of entertainment and hilarity. The dialog is well-written and there are several quotable lines. There are plenty of memorable scenes in there as well. I'm impressed that the filmmakers actually managed to talk so many real senators and important people into appearing briefly in the film, especially since so many of them talk about the quality of this fictional president. All in all, a pretty typical Kevin Kline comedy, not his best, and definitely not that special. Good for a few viewings, if you enjoy Kline-humor. I recommend this to fans of Kevin Kline and/or director Ivan Reitman. 7/10