Président d'un jour

Of all the movies about the President released in the 1990's, Dave was the first and the best. Kevin Kline plays a dual role. He plays President Bill Mitchell, and Dave Kovic, a look-alike for the chief executive. When he is asked to fill in for him as a decoy, he jumps to serve his nation. However, the real Bill Mitchell suffers a stroke and lays comatose. That's when the White House Chief of Staff, Bob (Frank Langella) and the Press Secretary, Alan (Kevin Dunn) convince Dave to stay on. According to them, the Vice President (Ben Kingsley) is mentally unbalanced. Dave, being naive, falls for it. However, they do not count on a generally nice guy wanting to really play the part of chief executive. He figures out their plan and turns the table, wanting to do real public policy that will make a true difference. Sigourney Weaver plays the estranged First Lady who must be kept in the dark, which is half the battle during this wonderful comedy. I liked this movie on so many levels. The first was that this movie was not silly slapstick humor like First Kid, nor did it resort to preachiness and making a political point in The American President. Dave also did not rely on excessive action in Air Force One. Instead, we have the basic idea that if we get good, honest people elected to office, good things will happen. Almost Capra-esquire, the film is earnest, not wanting to push one political agenda over another. What makes this message work is the restrained direction of Ivan Reitman, and the subtle, yet honest performance of Kevin Kline (one of the best actors ever). One of the most entertaining aspect of this movie is watching actual members of Congress, the Washtingon Press Corps, and popular entertainment making cameos. This is what gave the movie a sense of realism. Finally, Reitman helps the audience fall for the plot. He makes it so believable, honest and true. In the end, the audience will realize that politics will not mend our nation, but rather honest people will. In any case of all the movies about the President, this is the best one.

Bob Mitchell is the typical US president. Dodgy, rich, adulterous, you know the rest. Whilst he is supposed to attend a function he uses a double, the nice guy Dave Kovic, as a stand-in so he can spend the night with his secretary. However, after he suffers a massive stroke, he lapses into a coma, his chief of staff and chief scriptwriter however are intertwined in a corruption scandal and if the vice president takes over they will be scuppered. So rather than do that they decide to keep using the stand-in to maintain the illusion that the president is just fine.

Not having suffered the rise to power that many politicians go through Dave isn't blinded by just running things the way they always have been and can see the many wrong decisions that politicians make simply to keep the status quo and, after tiring of simply following the orders of the chief of staff, decides to do what so few US presidents do, and make things better for the working man.

To this and the last decade Gary Ross is what Frank Capra was to the thirties and forties, with a variety of feel good films that challenge are ideas about what the world is and what it should be. The script for this film is dynamite with a ton of great touches, including Dave's changing from Presidential script reader to tourist as he spots a souvenir. The film manages to stride in between the dangerous path of a hard right "Eastwood-Esque" take on things and the ultra-liberal path that someone like Redford would focus on. Instead the film manages to put itself in the minds of the ordinary Joe, who watches in disbelief at the stupid things that the powers that be spend money on, when so many problems still go on without being addressed at all, with sound bites like "You can't solve problems by throwing money at them" (How come it's only the wealthy that say that?)

The performances are all first rate with Kevin Kline magnificent as the idealistic Dave Kovic thrown into the deep end after becoming the leader of the free world, Frank Langella and Alan Reed also excel as the Chief of staff and Chief scriptwriter, with Charles Grodin stealing the scene as the put upon Murray who takes on various people from Dave's temp agency when he is stuck finding work for people elsewhere. The direction is nothing special but succeeds in telling the story with humour and sadness that very often the people who get the top job have so little knowledge of the people at the bottom to make any significant change in society.

First rate, and far better than the IMDb rating suggests. Also watch out for a great end gag. Top drawer.

A sweet, funny movie (the kind Douglas Adams would call "mostly harmless"), with a somewhat outlandish plot, that I'm sure is probably not all that far removed from reality - given the circumstances. Definitely one of Kevin Klines best. Sigourney Weaver isn't given much of a chance, what with her role being the lesser of the couple in focus, but she does do well with her part. For obvious reasons 'Dave' gets somewhat political, but all in all it seem to never actually pick sides, not to any greater extent anyway. Instead it rather seem to suggest that bureaucracy in general is an obstacle, a hindrance to really getting something done. Charles Grodin, in a smaller part, does what Charles Grodin always does best - shows up every now and then and brings the Funny.

I think the most of the comments about this movie are fair. It is naive, improbable and, at times preachy. However, I disagree with any characterization of Kevin Kline's performance as less than great, whether he is portraying President Mitchell, standing in for him officially or doing an improv'. The segment toward the end of the film, when he and Sigourney Weaver are pulled over for the turn violation, and they do their version of "Tomorrow" from "Annie" is absolutely hilarious. This is one of those films that, for some reason or another, I keep going back to watch every so often, mainly because of its entertainment and values orientation. Our President and Congressional Delegations should care more about us than themselves. I'm still waiting, but I haven't seen that happen yet, nor have I seen a movie about the President of Slovenia. When I do I'll be sure to comment on it.

Dave (1993)

A hilarious wishful movie about what we really want our president to be. Kevin Kline is perfect in the role--both roles--a little goofy but totally believable. The rest of the cast doesn't much matter. They are decent if never amazing. It's a lightweight movie and to demand much beyond the gags and feel good qualities isn't fair to it.

Does it hold up twenty years after it was made? Oddly, yes. You might not even notice it's a bit outdated on the fringes. Politics in some ways has not changed a bit. And the idea of body doubles for the U.S. President is still in currency (see "Vantage Point" for starters). Of course the notion of a secretive government that might pull of a huge scam isn't far-fetched at all (except of course that you hope it actually is far-fetched outside of Hollywood--see "Wag the Dog" for starters).

There is also the use of lots of real people to bolster the idea that it's real, or could be real. Some are identified (senators and other celebrities from the era) so if you don't recognize them you should at least trust that these people are not actors.

But there are a number (like 20 or 30) of other "real" people playing themselves, including Oliver Stone. In case you don't know him, Stone is being interviewed on Larry King Live (with the real Larry King) and he says that they've studied photos of the "new" president and that it's a conspiracy. This is really one of the many little hilarious lines because Stone, of course, is famous for hatching or nurturing conspiracy theories for his movies. His "JFK" came out just two years earlier.

The other fun one most people will miss (and this dates me) is running into an unidentified Tip O'Neill on the streets. He was the real speaker of the house, and it's a great little three seconds. He dies the following year.

Okay, the movie isn't brilliant. But it never gets stale, and it's well made enough to survive even a curmudgeon without popcorn. It'll make you laugh.