On Screen / Linda Cook

Movie review: Put 'Swing Vote' on your wanna-see list

By Linda Cook | Friday, August 29, 2008 | () comments

"Swing Vote"

3 stars

Running time: Two hours

Rated: PG-13 for foul language

Stars: Kevin Costner, Madeline Carroll, Paula Patton, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane and Stanley Tucci

Director: Joshua Michael Stern

Screenwriters: Jason Richman and Joshua Michael Stern

This gentle, philosophical movie gets my vote for an entertaining pre-election thought-provoker.

If you’re old enough to vote, or just about old enough, and you have even a faint interest in the workings of politics, you’ll enjoy “Swing Vote.” Kevin Costner, of course, carries the even-handed, humorous film about how much winning means to both major political parties, and how far each will stoop to get a vote.

Costner stars as Bud Johnson, who lives with his daughter, Molly (Madeline Carroll), in a mobile home in a little town in New Mexico. Bud is a pretty nice guy, but he’s a ne’er-do-well. He drinks far too much and takes the role of the child in his relationship with his daughter. For instance, it’s Molly who gets Bud up in the morning, not the other way around. Molly even drives Bud’s truck when he gets a snootful.

Bud works in an egg-packing plant where his boss catches him drinking on the job and, in the process, destroying a lot of inventory. In the meantime, Molly is studying the process and civic duty of voting. After all, the presidential election is coming up. Her teacher assigns the class to watch their parents on Election Day and write about it.

Bud loses his job and gets drunk, forgetting to meet Molly at the polling site. Molly sneaks in, signs Bud’s name to the list of voters and tries to cast a ballot only to have the lights turned off as she does so. The election is so close that the experts determine it’s one little town in New Mexico that’s keeping the election from being resolved. In fact, it’s one little vote that will determine the winner. That vote, of course, is Bud’s.

The staff members of both parties begin to scramble now that the current Republican president, Andrew Boone (Kelsey Grammer), is vying against Democratic hopeful Donald Greenleaf (Dennis Hopper) for Bud’s vote. In the meantime, the clueless Bud finds himself the focus of an unwelcome, bewildering media frenzy.

The script never makes either candidate out to be a villain, even when their hilarious political ads — all aimed squarely at Bud, the only voter who matters now — transcend from ridiculous to offensive.

This is a smart movie about a dopey-acting guy who takes his civic duty for granted. Make it a candidate for your wanna-see list.