Protocole

Plot In A Paragraph: Sunny Ann Davis (Goldie Hawn) is a ditzy blonde who works as a cocktail waitress in Washington, D.C. She rents a room in the home of a gay couple, has a lousy love life and drives a rust bucket of a car that she cannot afford to repair. When she prevents the assassination of The President and a visiting Arab emir and winds up a national heroine.

Only Goldie Hawn could have played this role. It would not have worked with a different actress. It's Hawn's charm that totally carries this movie.

John Ratzenberger really made me laugh in his one scene as a security guard, whilst bonus points must go to any fans who spot an uncredited Chevy Chase as a doctor (Not the one who does the operation) who looks at Goldie Hawn ass and says "Beautiful, just beautiful" to which a heavily medicated Hawn just replies "Thanks"

As a "Married With Children" fan it was fun to spot Amanda Bearse (Marcy) as a soap opera actress.

The very first scene of "Protocol" is all wrong: Goldie Hawn (again playing a sweet ditz) holds up traffic on a busy Washington, D.C. street when her car breaks down. Not only has her engine blown but she can't get out of the car because the door is also broken. Who wrote this? Buck Henry?!! Hard to believe, but it gets worse. Hawn saves a Middle Eastern leader from being assassinated and becomes the toast of the town--but only until jealous and nefarious White House insiders attempt to make her look foolish. Goldie Hawn only looks foolish when she's required to act too dippy for her age, but I cannot think of any "young" actress who could've gotten away with this role either. Early on there's a bouncy press-conference sequence with many funny lines, but too often the script is loaded down with groaners. An uncontrolled party scene near the finish brings everything to a screeching halt, with characters we don't like acting even more moronic than usual. It nearly makes "Private Benjamin" look like Shakespeare. ** from ****

"Protocol" is a hit-and-miss picture starring Goldie Hawn as a bubbly cocktail waitress who one night saves the life of a visiting Arab from an assassination attempt. The woman immediately becomes a celebrity, and gets a new job working for the U.S. Government. Will the corridors of power in our nation's capital ever be the same? Hawn is excellent as usual even though "Protocol" isn't as funny as her best film "Private Benjamin". But it's still a good movie, and I did laugh alot.

*** (out of four)

First the standard/boring parts. I am not particularly a fan of Goldie Hawn, or the other actors. As with many politics movies, this one has "a nobody" plucked from obscurity and thrust to the attention of the nation. International relations and diplomacy are 'the angle' to which this movie enters Hollywood's political lansdcape. It is not done particularly well.

Now to the reason I am writing this review.. a day after I watched the movie. The movie has a low key element to it. That is it does not attempt to be bigger than what it is. As a result, it helps to normalize politics. Makes a case that anyone can become a politician. I consider that to be an important message. Now in the 2020s.. more than ever.. there is this political class. Big money is more involved than ever.

I did not think I would be writing a review for this movie as the closing credits rolled up (I rarely write any). Let alone that it would be a positive one... or at least have a positive aspect to it. Yet, here we are. It is what it is.

If you like Goldie Hawn, you might like this story about a wide-eyed girl who happens to foil an assassination, then--because of her folksy charm--is hired by the Dept. of Protocol.

"Protocol" is a comedy with a moral. It's nearly impossible to miss the parallels with "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and, even more "Born Yesterday", (in which Judy Holliday plays the Washington neophyte who finds that civic duty requires her to educate herself in the basics of politics). Goldie plays the part of Sunny with her usual plucky charm. She is surrounded by a sharp cast, but she carries the film as she does most of her films. The writing, by Buck Henry, takes shots at the media, the government, foreign affairs, and the office of the Vice President. Its style is somewhat reminiscent of Elaine May.

Overall, this film is lightweight, even with its serious call for self-education in government affairs. It is not Ms. Hawn's best, but amusing nonetheless.