To avoid a potentially explosive scandal when the U.S. President goes into a coma, an affable temp agency owner with an uncanny resemblance, is put in his place.
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While helping his latest client woo the fine lady of his dreams, a professional "date doctor" finds that his game doesn't quite work on the gossip columnist with whom he's smitten.
A young Greek woman falls in love with a non-Greek and struggles to get her family to accept him while she comes to terms with her heritage and cultural identity.
Director:
Joel Zwick
Stars:
Nia Vardalos,
Michael Constantine,
Christina Eleusiniotis
A new kid must find a guy to date the meanest girl in school, the older sister of the girl he has a crush on, who cannot date until her older sister does.
Director:
Gil Junger
Stars:
Heath Ledger,
Julia Stiles,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
A cruel but beautiful heiress screws over a hired carpenter, who later is the first one to find her when she gets amnesia. Looking for a little revenge he convinces her that she's his wife.
Bill Mitchell is the philandering and distant President of the United States. Dave Kovic is a sweet-natured and caring Temp Agency operator, who by a staggering coincidence looks exactly like the President. As such, when Mitchell wants to escape an official luncheon, the Secret Service hires Dave to stand in for him. Unfortunately, Mitchell suffers a severe stroke whilst having sex with one of his aides, and Dave finds himself stuck in the role indefinitely. The corrupt and manipulative Chief of Staff, Bob Alexander, plans to use Dave to elevate himself to the White House - but unfortunately, he doesn't count on Dave enjoying himself in office, using his luck to make the country a better place, and falling in love with the beautiful First Lady... Written by
Scott Nisbet <scott_nisbet@hotmail.com>
Many Hollywood personalities, US Congressmen, and political commentators appear in this film as themselves. See more »
Goofs
When Dave holds the joint session of Congress, the members of Congress are sitting at desks; thus, it appears as if the session is occurring in the Senate chamber. A joint session would be held in the much larger House of Representative chamber, which doesn't have desks for every member like the Senate chamber does. See more »
Quotes
Dave:
If you've ever seen the look on somebody's face the day they finally get a job, I've had some experience with this, they look like they could fly. And its not about the paycheck, it's about respect, it's about looking in the mirror and knowing that you've done something valuable with your day. And if one person could start to feel this way, and then another person, and then another person, soon all these other problems may not seem so impossible. You don't really know how much you can do until ...
See more »
An escapist fantasy film, where a Walter Mitty style dream of suddenly being given the chance and the means to heroically make the world a better place for everyone is explored.
When an ordinary every-man look-alike to the president is asked to briefly pose as the chief executive, he reluctantly agrees to the put-on. Things get complicated because the real president suffers a debilitating stroke, and the poser is asked to maintain the deception for national security reasons by a corrupt power mongering chief-of-staff.
Kevin Kline does an excellent job as the innocent who finds he is a modern day Mr. Smith going to Washington, encountering scandals and corruption going on at these levels. The shadow-government conspiracy theory is nothing new, but this film utilizes the idea with an optimistic viewpoint, since the lead character chooses to effect positive changes, rather than exploit the situation. Corruption is seen as the exception rather than the rule, and that honest people can remove this blight from the landscape, if only they had the bravery to do so. Certainly this is a wildly idealistic premise, but it works.
Political insiders are the baddies, the rest of us are the good guys, represented by Dave (a great acting performance by Kevin Kline). Ben Kingsley is great as the sincere and benevolent vice president. Sigourney Weaver is wonderful as the ignored first lady who keys into the deception, and Frank Langella is well cast as the plotting diabolical foe of democracy, Bob Alexander. There are several standouts in the supporting cast, as well.
An entertaining "feel good" movie, certainly worth a watch.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
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An escapist fantasy film, where a Walter Mitty style dream of suddenly being given the chance and the means to heroically make the world a better place for everyone is explored.
When an ordinary every-man look-alike to the president is asked to briefly pose as the chief executive, he reluctantly agrees to the put-on. Things get complicated because the real president suffers a debilitating stroke, and the poser is asked to maintain the deception for national security reasons by a corrupt power mongering chief-of-staff.
Kevin Kline does an excellent job as the innocent who finds he is a modern day Mr. Smith going to Washington, encountering scandals and corruption going on at these levels. The shadow-government conspiracy theory is nothing new, but this film utilizes the idea with an optimistic viewpoint, since the lead character chooses to effect positive changes, rather than exploit the situation. Corruption is seen as the exception rather than the rule, and that honest people can remove this blight from the landscape, if only they had the bravery to do so. Certainly this is a wildly idealistic premise, but it works.
Political insiders are the baddies, the rest of us are the good guys, represented by Dave (a great acting performance by Kevin Kline). Ben Kingsley is great as the sincere and benevolent vice president. Sigourney Weaver is wonderful as the ignored first lady who keys into the deception, and Frank Langella is well cast as the plotting diabolical foe of democracy, Bob Alexander. There are several standouts in the supporting cast, as well.
An entertaining "feel good" movie, certainly worth a watch.