| Romantic Comedy | MPAA:PG |
There was a time when I didn't like Kevin Kline. That was
mostly because I didn't like the people I saw him portray in
movies. Irrational, I know, but I think people tend to do that --
if someone consistantly plays nasty people very well, most people
don't like them. Then he went and married the extraordinarily
cute Pheobe Cates (who is far younger than him), giving me even
more reason do dislike him. Then he and the missus did a bit on
Sesame Street, and I thought, maybe he's not such a bad guy after
all. And then this......
Kevin plays 2 parts in this movie, Bill Mitchell (the president),
and Dave Kovic. Dave is not the president, but an incredible
simulation -- oh sorry, that was Beatlemania. Actually Dave runs
a temp agency that tries (perhaps) a little too hard to find it's
people work, even if it means talking his accountant Murray (Charles
Grodin) into hiring someone he doesn't really need. And, since he
does bear a striking resemblance to the president, he picks up
spare money impersonating him. That brings him to the attention
of a Secret Service agent (the eternally cool, Ving Rhames), who
has been sent to find a guy to impersonate the president -- for
security purposes. Or so the president can screw his secretary,
which is the case here. Unfortunately for him, he (the president)
suffers a massive stroke. So the chief of staff, Bob Alexander (Frank
Langella), hatches a plan. He's a powerhungry twit, and decides
to have Dave continue long enough to get rid of the current vice
president (Ben Kingsley) and have himself appointed instead. Then
they can get rid of the president, and he can take over. So Dave
goes along with it, and all is fine, until he meets the first
lady, Ellen Mitchell (Sigourney Weaver). She and the president
don't get along (seems she has a thing about her husband sleeping
around with other women), but when Dave sees her, he's
immediately smitten. She, on the other hand, absolutely despises
him -- which thrills Bob and Allan Reed (Kevin Dunn), the press
secretary. Time goes on, the plot to discredit the vice-president
is growing, and Dave gets to do all these fun public appearances
-- goofing at a factory, visiting kids with Ah-nuld, throwing out
the first pitch of the season, and finally a homeless shelter for
kids. This he does with Ellen, who ends up quite suprised by the
way her 'husband' seems to care about what happens to these kids.
All of which blows up when Bob vetoes a bill that would have
provided funding for the homeless -- and the shelter they visited.
She storms into his shower to tear his head off. Dave has no clue
as to what happend, and calls in Bob and Allan. Bob, who is
outraged at having been called in, tells him that is he wants his
homeless shelters so bad, he'll have to find 650 million dollars
from the budget somewhere. So, Dave calls his accountant Murray
in, sends out for some food, and the 2 of them manage to find the
money. The next day at the cabinet meeting, Allan has arranged
for the media to sit in on the 100th meeting, which is the
perfect time for Dave to bring out his plan (who's gonna waffle
with the media present). Dave finds the money, everyone cheers,
except for Bob. Allan asks him what his problem is, he just did
what he was told -- find 650 million dollars from the budget. Bob
yells that he's going to get rid of Dave, and Allan says 'then we'll
all go to jail'. Bob menacingly asks if that was a threat, and
Allan says yes, I guess it is. Then Ellen comes in and asks Dave
a trick question that he doesn't answer right. She then asks
where Bill is. So Ellen, Dave, and Duane (the cool Secret Service
guy) go down to a basement hospital where Bill is being kept
alive by machines. Ellen decides it's time to leave, and so does
Dave. They sneak out of the White House, get stopped by the cops
(where the two of them have a hard time trying to convice the
cops that they aren't the president and first lady). Then, they
end up going on a date, where they decide to try to do some good.
The first action is to fire Bob. Then a press conference where
Dave announces a new jobs bill. The public, while thinking that
the president has gone a little bit dotty, thinks it's a great
idea. Then Bob, who has successfully embarassed the vice
president, decides to go after the president too. He calls a
press conference to announces his allegations. Dave says it's bad
enough to trash the vice president, but he has to drag him is as
well. That's when Allan tells him that it's all true. So one more
ploy -- Dave calls for a joint session of congress, where he
plans to answer to Bob's charges. He stands up, and says -- Yes,
it's all true except for 2 things: The vice president had nothing
to do with it, and: Bob Alexander did -- here's the written proof.
Then as he's pleading for his jobs bill, he has a conveniently
timed massive stroke. There's a mad dash to the hospital where
the president comes out of the back of the ambulance, and Dave --
once more a normal citizen -- comes out the front. Bill holds out
for a few months then finally expires, the vp takes over, and
Dave decides to run for city council, with the Widow Ellen by his
side, and his favorite Secret Service agent guarding the door.
This is another one of those 'cute' movies that I happen to like
a lot. And, since it's a political movie set in D.C., there are
guest cameos a-plenty -- From Jay Leno and Kathleen Sullivan, to
the late Tip O'Neill and Paul Simon, to afore mentioned Ah-nold
and Oliver Stone (who does a magnificent job spoofing himself, it
gave me a new appreciation for the man -- not his movies, but him).
This is a very nice film -- and I find myself actually liking
Kevin Kline now.
He's still to old for Pheobe Cates though.