Blue State

A self-mocking indictment against taking life too seriously, as ever the redeeming power of love wins out, with the moral - at the end - being that it is better to act locally than to run away.

As for suggestions that the movie is partisan, I think not, this is merely a matter of character portrayal.

Excellent acting by the hero and heroine. Very enjoyable and absorbing to watch.

A self-mocking indictment against taking life too seriously, as ever the redeeming power of love wins out, with the moral - at the end - being that it is better to act locally than to run away.

As for suggestions that the movie is partisan, I think not, this is merely a matter of character portrayal.

Excellent acting by the hero and heroine. Very enjoyable and absorbing to watch.

This is a typical formula romantic comedy in that the couple fight and insult each other for most of the film then suddenly get the hots for each other at the end after getting plastered on home made Canadian beer. It is an unusual romantic comedy in that I found myself hoping the whole film he would escape from her. She was totally wrong for him. She was an soldier in Iraq. He is a rabid peace activist. She lives on junk food and meat. He is a vegetarian. He is highly idealistic. She is totally self centred. He easy going and rational. She is erratic and touchy. There is no attraction besides sex. Usually such differences just create fodder for humour, but in this movie, it turns into a mild horror.

The movie is mostly them sniping at each other. There are two other notable scenes.

In one they go to meet the boy's father, who seems to think he is Rush Limbaugh, or at least a worshipper. It is quite over the top, packing in every Republican stereotype into a few minutes. It is hilarious, horrifying and depressing.

In another scene, he almost marries a gigantic older woman besotted with him that he just met to help him toward Canadian citizenship. It is just creepy.

Other than those two scenes, not much happens. It is like travels of a handsome young man with his cranky cat companion. She is not intelligent enough to say anything interesting, and not stupid enough to be amusing.

This is a strongly anti-Bush film. It was made by Canadians. It has fun with the stereotypes Americans and Canadians have about each other.

Considering that this movie is 15 years old when it was made in a bygone era when Georgy-Porgy was the President and this Democrat has a girlfriend who keeps arguing. Neither would I call it romantic nor a comedy. Its a ridiculous situation.

Worried about disappointing the loyal readers of his internet blog, a political activist decides to make good on a promise he made to move to Canada if George W. Bush was reelected in this Canada/US co- production starring Breckin Meyer. The film is overloaded with political debate (and lots of anti-Bush sentiment), however it nevertheless makes Meyer's road trip less a political one and more a journey of self-discovery in which he learns to be proud to be an American while dealing with personal issues that surface after stopping off at his parents' house along the way. He also learns to become more humble throughout, having built up a false self-image as an important person in the political scene purely due to some campaign work and a blog with a smaller audience than he ever realised. What exactly Anna Paquin's character has to do with his self-discovery journey is less clear. Her role in the narrative is awkward from the get-go with Meyer desperate for companionship as he drives up to Canada. Paquin's character admittedly comes with a few twists that one might not see coming, but the romantic tension between the pair is extremely formulaic and subtracts from Meyer's character growth. All in all, 'Blue State' is a film with enough in it to possibly be worth a look, but with a singular protagonist and a tighter story, it may have been a lot more than just that.

The people who ripped into the movie for portraying a one-dimensional Canada or taking potshots at Bush are missing the point.

Canada as a locale in the movie is merely a convenient shorthand-- it could have been Mexico or the UK or Australia, the point is that it's a foreign country. Calling 'Blue State' "anti-Canadian propaganda" is a bit like calling South Park's portrayal of egghead Canadians "anti-Canadian propaganda".

And, it may be just me, but I felt that 'Blue State' pokes more fun at the Democrat zealot than of Dubya-- for a considerable portion of the movie, and when he's on tirade-mode, it seems to me that John is portrayed as a sad, almost ridiculous figure.

That aside, the leads are believable and exhibit romantic chemistry, and make their characters likable. Especially Breckin Meyer-- as written, John is a self-important, uptight person for most of the film, but Meyer imbues his character with humanity.

Overall a mild political satire and competent, heartfelt romantic road trip.