When I first saw the trailer for Swing Vote, I found I had a hard time buying into the concept it was selling. Is it possible for a presidential election in the United States to come down to one person? Could a single popular vote be the deciding factor in determining who will run the free world? Surely it could never come down to that, although I am sure someone could come with a scenario where one deciding vote makes this big a difference could come to pass. That said, I wasn't sold on the concept, but was intrigued to see how they would try to explain it. Off I went, off to see how they would explain the central gimmick, and hoping that the movie was at least a little bit entertaining.I was rewarded for my trip to the theater. Swing Vote actually turned out to be a decent movie, perhaps even better than decent. It had enough heart to induce numerous smiles, funny enough to spur a few chuckles, and smart enough not to play the audience for fools while having a clear focus of what it was trying to accomplish. Now, this these facts do not make this a great movie, that it is not and will never be confused for one; however, it is one that is better than I was expecting and well worth spending some time with.
Kevin Costner stars as Bud Johnson, an egg inspector who uses much of his free time to drink beer while disappointing his daughter, Molly (Madeline Carroll). He doesn't intend to be such a screw up, it just seems to come naturally. Molly, on the other hand, is a bright young girl, she does well in school, is thoughtful, intelligent, and is doing her best to be loyal to her father and keep their family together.Everything their relationship is built on comes to a head on election day. Molly is intent on getting her father involved. So, she wakes him after a night of drinking and on the way to school gets him to agree to meet her at the polling place after school. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen, Bud loses his job, gets drunk and passes out while Molly waits, impatiently, at the polling station. Here is where the plot begins to make its move. In a pure plot contrivance, that works, something happens that makes it appear that Bud voted, but that his vote did not count.
No sooner has this news been broken, by ambitious reporter with a heart Kate Madison (Paula Patton), that national news networks by the truckload descend on the small town. They proceed to set up camp around the Johnson trailer, never letting them get any rest. In this movie, the media (except for Kate, of course) are portrayed as bloodsucking jackals looking to break the story. You know, that probably isn't too far from the truth.Not only does the media turn up, both of the presidential candidates, their campaign managers, and full crew arrive in an effort to woo the vote of the single man. The candidates are Andrew Boone (Kelsey Grammar) as the Republican incumbent and Donald Greenleaf (Dennis Hopper) as the Democratic challenger. Along with them are their managers, played by Stanley Tucci and Nathan Lane, respectively. Their intentions are obvious, personally appeal to Bud and win him over to their team. Their carefully calculated plays work, albeit a bit too well as Bud likes both men. This attempt to curry favor also exposes something we always knew about politicians and their tactics, they will say and promise anything in exchange for your support.
Everything comes down to a Frank Capra styled speech prior to a climactic debate. It is a speech filled with big ideas told in everyday manner. It is a telling speech that sums up a lot of what the reason for the movie is. Who does he vote for? Well, that would be telling now, wouldn't it?If you approach this movie as a realistic look at a potential political situation, you are sadly mistaken. Could something like this happen? I am sure there could be a perfect storm of events that could conspire for such a situation, but this movie is not about trying to show realism. To take it a step further, this is not a partisan film, it really isn't even a political film, at least not in the traditional sense of a political film.
What Swing Vote is, is a lighthearted film that has its designs set on getting people involved. In short, the movie wants you to be more like Molly and less like Bud, but if you are a Bud, it is possible to pull out of that level and get informed and become involved. This is an urge to get involved. The more people get involved, the more important single votes become. It is only during an election year that a film like this would get released.
The thing that makes this film is not so much the plot, the gimmick has been used before, it is the characters. Kevin Costner is very much a movie star, even when acting like drunk living in a trailer, he cannot get away from that. Still, Costner manages to be engaging here, bringing a bit more substance than I was expecting. You can see him doing these stupid things, knowing he should be better because of his daughter, there are actual degrees to the performance. Despite what Costner is able to bring, the film is owned by Madeline Carroll, she carries the emotional weight and is a considerable presence on the screen.
Bottomline. What it comes down to is a heartwarming story of a father and daughter that hopes to encourage involvement, regardless of which party side you take, get involved. I enjoyed it, more than I was expecting to, and I suspect others will to.
Recommended.
