I found this movie to be ... awkward. It wasn't bad. There are parts of it that are actually quite good. But it struck me as what you might call overly ambitious. There are basically two movies here. They're certainly connected; in fact in the context of this movie they're inseparable. But they're very different stories, and the combination of the two was - again - awkward.
After what I thought was a pretty slow start with what was a rather lengthy narration style opening from Christopher Walken, playing Jack Menken, who was the manager for Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams), the movie started out really well. Dobbs is a political satirist, a la Jon Stewart. On his TV talk show he skewers politicians and rants against the system, and then suddenly and unexpectedly declares his candidacy for President of the United States. Starting out as a serious campaigner, he cuts loose as the political satirist he really is during a televised debate, his campaign catches fire and he gets elected, to everyone's surprise. This was working for me - and it was working really well. It wasn't outrageously funny, but it was a wonderful poke at the system, and I was seriously looking forward to seeing Dobbs poking the system from inside as he takes over the Oval Office.
Then comes the awkwardness, as a completely unnecessary storyline gets introduced. The United States was trying out a new computer-based voting system. Now, I may not be an American but I'm familiar with the American electoral system. That's almost impossible. Each state runs its own version of the presidential election in its own way according to its own rules. To expect that every single state would sign on to this system is ridiculous. But that's the story. It then moves on to the fact that a computer glitch is what got Dobbs elected. You know what? I really wanted him as the legitimately elected President - a poke in the eye to the system from the voters. But he's not. The company that developed the computer voting system wants to cover the glitch up of course. So what if the glitch screwed democracy - it will hurt us in the pocketbook if people find out. But Eleanor (Laura Linney) - who works for the company - doesn't agree, wants to go public, and so the company sets out first to discredit her and then to eliminate her. So what started out as an enjoyable and light-hearted political satire becomes a political thriller about an electoral conspiracy. That could make for a good movie on its own, but to tie it in with the first part of the movie, where Dobbs gets elected in a huge upset was - I'll say it again - awkward. Both stories had a lot of potential. Because of the hybrid nature of the movie, neither story reached its full potential.
To give credit where credit is due, though, Robin Williams was, I thought, superb in the role. He seemed credible, sincere and completely believable. I'm not always a big fan of Robin Williams; this movie was one of the best performances I've seen from him. Linney was good; Walken was probably underused.
The movie's not bad. I just think it tried to do too much, and it would have been more fun and more interesting and maybe more thought-provoking if the whole political thriller angle had been dumped and we could have seen Dobbs actually and legitimately behind the desk in the Oval Office. (5/10)
After what I thought was a pretty slow start with what was a rather lengthy narration style opening from Christopher Walken, playing Jack Menken, who was the manager for Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams), the movie started out really well. Dobbs is a political satirist, a la Jon Stewart. On his TV talk show he skewers politicians and rants against the system, and then suddenly and unexpectedly declares his candidacy for President of the United States. Starting out as a serious campaigner, he cuts loose as the political satirist he really is during a televised debate, his campaign catches fire and he gets elected, to everyone's surprise. This was working for me - and it was working really well. It wasn't outrageously funny, but it was a wonderful poke at the system, and I was seriously looking forward to seeing Dobbs poking the system from inside as he takes over the Oval Office.
Then comes the awkwardness, as a completely unnecessary storyline gets introduced. The United States was trying out a new computer-based voting system. Now, I may not be an American but I'm familiar with the American electoral system. That's almost impossible. Each state runs its own version of the presidential election in its own way according to its own rules. To expect that every single state would sign on to this system is ridiculous. But that's the story. It then moves on to the fact that a computer glitch is what got Dobbs elected. You know what? I really wanted him as the legitimately elected President - a poke in the eye to the system from the voters. But he's not. The company that developed the computer voting system wants to cover the glitch up of course. So what if the glitch screwed democracy - it will hurt us in the pocketbook if people find out. But Eleanor (Laura Linney) - who works for the company - doesn't agree, wants to go public, and so the company sets out first to discredit her and then to eliminate her. So what started out as an enjoyable and light-hearted political satire becomes a political thriller about an electoral conspiracy. That could make for a good movie on its own, but to tie it in with the first part of the movie, where Dobbs gets elected in a huge upset was - I'll say it again - awkward. Both stories had a lot of potential. Because of the hybrid nature of the movie, neither story reached its full potential.
To give credit where credit is due, though, Robin Williams was, I thought, superb in the role. He seemed credible, sincere and completely believable. I'm not always a big fan of Robin Williams; this movie was one of the best performances I've seen from him. Linney was good; Walken was probably underused.
The movie's not bad. I just think it tried to do too much, and it would have been more fun and more interesting and maybe more thought-provoking if the whole political thriller angle had been dumped and we could have seen Dobbs actually and legitimately behind the desk in the Oval Office. (5/10)