Le président et Miss Wade

Good film. I went through the movie one more time. Except for Andrew Shepard didn't even bring a translator to the grand diplomacy party with the French president and his wife, and it was a bit awkward to watch only the president and Sydney dancing in a hall full of 200 essential political figures, because they were supposed to be the lead, it was supposed to be a dance ball if the president commanded a dance, but everyone was just watching quietly, like they were tolerating Andrew's inappropriately behavior with courtesy. I planned to watch the links and key scenes for flaws, but instead I came back with swelling excitement and red cheeks and hands sore from squeezing too hard. I guess I'm not a good critic. Here comes more accolade. Aaron Sorkin is an expert on exposing four year of Andrew's Whitehouse life with a few phases mentioning the customs, like the crew's been there all the time. And the opening scene is divine, I didn't thought much of this film, because I bumped into it when going over Netflix, but the opening scene told me outright that American President wasn't just any film. I was deeply absorbed by the grand music and words floating on a white sculpture, and other totems like eagle, the flag, presidents' portraits and so on. National pride oozed out with a sense of solemnity. Then we witness the charm of the president and Whitehouse's departments clicked like a engine made from Germany.

The writing is sharp, though you can tell Sorkin hadn't quite mastered his style. The story is actually pretty reasonable and makes for an interesting film. Michael Douglas is excellent as the president and you can see the model from which Sorkin would craft Josiah Bartlet. All in all, this is a decent diversion and I enjoyed most of it.

Aaron Sorkin sets a snappy pace for this classic romance/comedy/Cinderella Story, utilizing the White House, the President, and his staff as the conduit for his dialogue writing prowess.

Clearly, this film helped influence the creation of 'The West Wing' TV Series four years later, even using the same Oval Office set shown in this film. The sets and atmosphere are presented in immaculate detail, and authentic looking, surpassing anything ever portrayed in film other than the Whitehouse itself. I've been in the real Whitehouse, including the Oval Office, and have also sat at the faux Resolute desk on the set of West Wing (same desk used in this film). There was a tremendous investment made to recreate the real thing in this film, and Reiner pulled it off perfectly.

In Sorkin's screenplays, self-confidence, keen intellect, superior communication ability, and one's ethics-compass are at the core of the protagonist's persona.

Michael Douglas portrays Democratic President Andrew Shepherd with the same believability and deft touch as he did playing Gordon Gecko in Wall Street.

Annette Benning is the ideal girlfriend of the widowed Shepherd, and engages the audience (and Douglas) in one of her most charming performances.

A first-class supporting actor ensemble are up to the task of portraying Sorkin's crack White House staff, adding immensely to making this film a feel-good romance that is believable and fun.

The plot doesn't delve deeply into the emotions or feelings of Shepard nor Benning's lobbyist charecter Sydney Ellen Wade, but highlights the witty repertoire one would expect from a US President and Capitol Hill lobbyist. The deft skill and movie-star quality each actor has developed in their respective acting careers are showcased with Sorkin's writing in telling this Whitehouse Cinderella story.

If the film went deep into emotions, it would have just gotten in the way of a story of a widowed relatively young President falling in love at first sight with Sydney, and the fun of seeing her being thrust into the White House staff and press fish bowl.

There is a definite Frank Capra influence to the film.

It all works better than it might seem on paper, and we get to enjoy another Rob Reiner classic: A director whose movie-making style and subject-matter is as diverse as anyone in the business.

US President Andrew Shepherd is a widower who was sweep into power on the back of great public sympathy. Three years into his presidency he meets and falls for Sydney Ellen Wade, an environmental lobbyist. Eventually they begin to date against the counsel of his advisors, giving his rivals (most notably Senator Rumson) and the media the ammunition they need to begin to attack his presidency.

This is not exactely a political thriller. In fact it is as far removed from reality as you could imagine. However that's the point, this film doesn't pretend to be anything other than a romantic comedy - it has some political wranglings but it is very far from the (still very tidy and clean) rule of Martin Sheen's President in TV's The West Wing. However the story is nicely handled and Rob Reiner is natually very good at this type of thing. Here it occasionally is far too sickly sweet and sentimental, but most of it works well.

Douglas is good in the lead and looks quite acceptable as the President of the US - lets be honest, if it was him or "oil baron" Bush who would you pick? Bening is also good as Sydney but neither have anything outside of the usual romantic leads to do. The real strength here is the supporting cast - both in terms of class and sheer enterainment value.To name a few - Sheen, MJ Fox, Mathis, Dreyfuss - all big names, all funny performances.

Overall this is a big sloppy romantic comedy, but it's done with so much class that it's hard not to like it. Not brillant, but very enjoyable all the same.

The American President has more than just a whiff of conventionality and predictability in it, but it still remains interesting, enjoyable, and amusing thanks to a competently executed screenplay and excellent performances. The American President is excellent because it has a taut, very lean screenplay which disposes of any silliness of unnecessary scenes. As a result the film runs with excellent pace and their boredom never creeps in at all. My most common complaint with films like this, which marries its characters personal life's with their professional ones, is that often films becomes clunking handled, where the plot driving the necessary conflict in the romcom arises from matters related to their occupations rather than their personal lives. In fact that was my problem with Broadcast News, and it is to screenwriter Sorkins credit that this is not a problem here. Despite the president being supposedly a man with essentially no personal life, the screenplay is able to cleverly navigate this theme of delineating the two spheres. Whereas the central conflict of this film still arises from the leads' differences in their professional lives, their professional lives are interesting, intriguing, and well presented, and the resolution recognises such a delineation. This film also has wonderful performances from the two appealing leads. Michael Douglas, a splitting image of his father, the legend Kirk Douglas, is suave, witty, and charismatic. He shares good chemistry with Annette Bennings Sydney, who manages wonderfully her role- She is adorable and likeable though there is still no doubt Sydney is a strong willed, assertive, fully formed woman. Sorkins screenplay also has several profound insights on the difficulty of being commanded in chief, a scene about janitors and proportional response being a particularly memorable moment. All I can say is Sorkin is a master at writing, and his screenplay here is consistently excellent material. Overall, The American President is a very enjoyable, likable romcom that contains good insights about politics. It is a charming, competently managed film.