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Derek Malcolm's rating
It's all up to Kevin in Swing Vote
By
Derek Malcolm
25 Sep 2008
Kevin Costner can seldom do anything right with the American public these days. But he’s quite as good an actor as most stars and better than a great many, as he shows in this slightly naïve and compromised political parable.
The premise asks: what would you do if, as a totally non-political bystander, the American Presidential election was somehow irrevocably tied and you had to cast the final vote?
Costner is Bud, a divorced, unemployed, middle-aged bum living in a New Mexico trailer with a sweet little daughter (Madeline Carroll) who is trying to knock some sense into him. He’s a slob with a beery heart of gold that’s well and truly disguised from everybody but his daughter.
Kelsey Grammer is the Republican candidate and a rather miscast Dennis Hopper is the Democrat, both trying to bribe Bud to cast his vote for them, while Nathan Lane and Stanley Tucci are their cynical campaign managers.
The film varies between ironic cynicism about the political process and overt whimsy and sentimentality. The best and the worst of Frank Capra is constantly in mind. But writer-director Joshua Michael Stern has made it watchable throughout, and Costner proves beyond doubt that he is still a force to be reckoned with.
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Reader views (1)
I was lucky enough to see a sneak preview of this film and loved it.
It's a great story and a real 'feelgood' picture - I think you will love it too!
- Sally Moore, london, 26/09/2008 15:30
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