For the last two presidential elections, on Election Day I
have stayed home in the evening and watched a DVD. I don’t care for all the
endless election returns on the telly all night long. I choose politically
based films to watch instead.
Eight years ago, I watched Dave, an excellent comedy starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney
Weaver. It’s a good film with Dave as a regular citizen who ends up being
forced to impersonate the president when the real one becomes ill. Sigourney
Weaver plays the real president’s wife. Lots of room for comedy and it has a
good message.
Four years ago, I watched Swing Vote starring Kevin Costner. Kevin is just so darn appealing,
and played the role of a simple, country man so well. The presidential election
all comes down to his single vote, and the two candidates proceed to woo him
for his support. A bright, fun film, and a bonus for me was that it was filmed
largely in New Mexico, where I am living now. Type Swing Vote into the search box on the upper left hand side of my
blog to read my review of this comedy.
This year, I am staying home and have picked out something
to watch on streaming Netflix. It’s a film from 2013, Lee Daniels’ The Butler. Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker plays
a butler in the White House who serves different administrations over decades,
and watches presidents and their staffs come and go. It sounds like a winner,
focusing also on the civil rights movement, possibly one of the most important
times in American history. I’m really looking forward to seeing this and will
write a review for you after I have watched it.
A local theater in Albuquerque is showing Air Force One on election night, for one
night only. This film stars Harrison Ford as the President, and sounds like it
would be good for those who like a little more action in their movies.
Another great film that is a riotous comedy is Election. It stars Matthew Broderick and
Reese Witherspoon, and was written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor of Sideways fame. If you haven’t ever seen
it, this year might be just the right time. Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) is
a teacher at a high school. An election at the school for class president unfolds
with student Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) driven to win no matter what. It
is rated R and deserves that rating. The election process at the school mirrors
the process of elections in American politics.
A more serious film is The
Contender starring Joan Allen. She is a vice presidential candidate who
finds her past being dragged through the dirt. This is a serious drama that has
parallels to modern day politics. It’s a very good political thriller.
Skip the network news on election night and tune in to a
film about an election or a presidency, just for fun. Let me know what you
watched!
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