Swing Vote (2008)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Joshua Michael Stern

Writers:

Jason Richman (written by) &
Joshua Michael Stern (written by)

Release Date:

1 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

One ordinary guy is giving the candidates a reason to run.

Plot:

In a remarkable turn-of-events, the result of the presidential election comes down to one man's vote.

Plot Keywords:

Polling Place | Ballot | Presidential Election | Casting Illegal Vote | Fly Rod And Reel Magazine

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Bud Johnson
Madeline Carroll	...	Molly Johnson
Paula Patton	...	Kate Madison
Kelsey Grammer	...	President Andrew Boone
Dennis Hopper	...	Donald Greenleaf
Nathan Lane	...	Art Crumb
Stanley Tucci	...	Martin Fox
George Lopez	...	John Sweeney
Judge Reinhold	...	Walter
Charles Esten	...	Lewis
Richard Petty	...	Himself
Willie Nelson	...	Himself
Mare Winningham	...	Larissa Johnson
Mark Moses	...	Attorney General Wyatt
Nana Visitor	...	Galena Greenleaf

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:12A | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Ireland:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44167) | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-3 | Argentina:13 | Mexico:A | Peru:PT

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Mare Winningham's character makes references to a history of drug addiction. In Wyatt Earp (1994) she played Mattie Blaylock, a laudanum addict who was Wyatt (Kevin Costner)'s common-law wife.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bud and the President are talking on Air Force One one of the glasses disappears from the table and in the next shot both glasses are there again.

Quotes:

Bud Johnson: Jesus, Molly, you've got to quit being such a smartass.
Molly Johnson: And *you* have to stop using 'Jesus' as a cussword all the time. He's a billion people's Saviour.

Movie Connections:

References "Hardball with Chris Matthews" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Desierto de Texas

Costner is charming

Kevin Costner is adorable as the slacker father of a overachieving, 12-year-old daughter. The kid-as-parent/parent-as-kid premise wouldn't have worked nearly as well if Costner's character, Bud Johnson, weren't so darn lovable. If you're looking for perfectly coiffed, cleaned up Costner, you won't find him here. He mostly looks like your husband first thing in the morning -- you know, the scruffy hair, unshaven face, and glazed over, half-asleep look where you wonder what you ever saw in him? But inside is a heart of gold? He pulls this role off to perfection. He's the lovable underachiever always with a clueless grin.

When the attorney general shows up at his door to tell him basically that he has the deciding vote, Bud's only comment, in a half-whisper is, "Does this mean I'm going to have to do jury duty?" The movie is good -- in fact if you like Dave with Kevin Kline, you'll like Swing Vote.

However, it tried to combine two movies. One was the comedy with Bud being the ONLY voting demographic needing to be catered to -- hence, personal appearances by Richard Petty and Willie Nelson -- the other was a sometimes hard-to-watch story of a daughter, played by Madeline Carroll, caring for her alcoholic father.

Carroll is a wonderful actress, and would be stellar in a drama. Her wistful, knowing looks at her father's helplessness, and her astute understanding of her mother's inability to be a mother were heart-wrenching. That could have been an entire story in itself and often took away from the comic elements. Mare Winningham was fantastic as the mother who ran away. She, Costner and Carroll really clicked on screen in their one scene together as a family torn apart by the selfish indulgence of the parents to the detriment of the child who deserves more. I marveled at that scene until I remembered that Winningham and Costner were in the movie "The War" as parents torn apart by Vietnam to the detriment of their son, young Elijah Wood. Costner and Winningham should get together again in a more upbeat film. Their relationship is very natural.

But in spite of the sad, child-having-to-be-the-adult part of Swing Vote, it was 80% comedy, and Costner's antics made it laugh out loud funny at times. It didn't seem to be politically bent one way or the other. It was patriotic and commented on immigrants from Mexico taking away jobs from Americans. But it was also pro-environment and touched on lack of health care for the many. The end was pure feel-good. Everyone changed appropriately, realizing the true (Hollywood) meaning of voting in America.