Swing State

Alex Beh and Taryn Manning really went astray with this one. Alex Beh completely overplayed this role, making him seem like an ignoramus, which is what the director intended, I assume. The directing and writing of this film are seriously deficient. It's quite alarming that this could be deemed a political film when it's not smart enough to be placed in that genre. Aside from the really overdone acting, the writing of the movie is just bad. There's no other way to say it. I read this is the filmmakers first feature length film as a writer and director and I think this should be his last. I rented this movie on VOD and was really blown away by how this film wreaked of the entitled younger generations of this country. I think everyone involved should take a few political science courses, read a few more books and never make a movie again.

I tried very hard to find something good to say about this film, but it's not possible. This film is a satire of sorts, but it is rooted in sexism, unintelligible dialogue and really tired stereotypes. It is possible that some may find this funny,but for a satire this really lacked any sensitivity or insight and instead came across as a movie of ridiculous one-liners. Whomever wrote this seems to have a very rudimentary understanding of human nature. of politics and of relationships because the characters just say and do idiotic things. The acting in this film is beyond bad. Beh is garish and unrelatable and the rest of the cast equally so. This seems to be a shortcoming in the directing, but it is hard to tell. The editing and sound make it feel like a movie my high schooler made. I didn't care for the music, but by the time I noticed how bad it was I had already determined the movie to be a flop. Not worth seeing.

I rented this movie after seeing an interview with the writer/director Jonathan Sheldon. There were two red flags during the interview and I should have heeded the warnings. The first is that Sheldon is painfully inarticulate. He repeatedly referred to things as "Molotov Cocktail-like". I did not hold this against him until I saw the movie and realized that inarticulate did in fact translate to an unintelligent and terribly crafted script. Secondly, in the interview, Sheldon had the audacity to compare his film to Tootsie. I'm an old guy, so I got the reference, but for the younger crowd, Tootsie is probably considered one of the top fifty comedies of all time. For Sheldon to compare his ridiculous, poorly acted, poorly directed film to one of the best movies of all time is insulting to cinephiles, writers, directors, actors and those who are intelligent. Swing State might make a top fifty list, but it is more likely the top fifty worst political comedies of all time. I urge you not to spend money renting this movie. It is insulting in every regard.

Back as a lad I remember on the old Tonight Show that Jack Paar hosted he used to have Cliff Arquette but as the character he created as Charley Weaver from Mount Idy. Fictional name, fictional town, but you never saw Arquette out of character. His little small town homilies were filled with wit if you read between the lines he had some devastating humor. There's a bunch of Arquettes acting today and they are his descendants.

Charlie was a lot funnier than this film Swing State who has quirky disc jockey Alex Beh create this fictitious radio guest who is supposed to be a satire on Rush Limbaugh types. The idea was great, but the execution falls flat as the Trump electorate feels they've found a John the Baptist type crying in their wilderness. Also a whole lot like Meet John Doe where Barbara Stanwyck and James Gleason create a fictional John Doe and then have to find someone to give him flesh and bones.

Frank Capra's film was a whole lot more serious than Swing State, still it had its funny moments.

Beh had a good idea, but it just doesn't gel.

This was the worst film I have ever seen. I saw it at a terrible LA film festival so should have known. The acting was awful; the writing was worse. I don't know whose idea it was to cast a bunch of washed up celebrities in a movie and think that would either make it good (it didn't) or make it worth seeing (it wasn't). The plot was not funny, so whatever stupid one liners existed fell flat. It was a really dumb film and it's sad that the industry supports real BS like this film and not quality stuff. The music was really bad and really distracting and the sound quality was poor. This film has nothing going for it. Posting this review so you save your money.