The American President (1995)

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writer (WGA):

Aaron Sorkin (written by)

Release Date:

17 November 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Why can't the most powerful man in the world have the one thing he wants most?

Plot:

Comedy-drama about a widowed US president and a lobbyist who fall in love. It's all aboveboard, but "politics is perception" and sparks fly anyway.

Plot Keywords:

Senator | Lobbyist | U.S. President | Politics | Love

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 12	6:30 PM	HBO
Mon. Nov. 23	3:05 PM	HBO

Cast

Michael Douglas	...	President Andrew Shepherd
Annette Bening	...	Sydney Ellen Wade
Martin Sheen	...	A.J. MacInerney
Michael J. Fox	...	Lewis Rothschild
Anna Deavere Smith	...	Robin McCall
Samantha Mathis	...	Janie Basdin
Shawna Waldron	...	Lucy Shepherd
David Paymer	...	Leon Kodak
Anne Haney	...	Mrs. Chapil
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Senator Bob Rumson
Nina Siemaszko	...	Beth Wade
Wendie Malick	...	Susan Sloan
Beau Billingslea	...	Agent Cooper
Gail Strickland	...	Esther MacInerney
Joshua Malina	...	David

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some strong language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Canada:PG (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #33993)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The dialogue refers explicitly at one point to the films of Frank Capra. Capra's grandson, Frank Capra III, was first assistant director of this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: After President Shepherd's speech at the end of the movie in which he confronts Bob Rumson and walks away, Leon Kodak states "Well, you don't see that every day of the week" to which Lewis Rothschild replies "He's got the whole White House press corps asking each other how to spell erudite!" The word erudite was not used in President Shepherd's speech.

Quotes:

President Andrew Shepherd: Do you think there will ever be a time when you can stand in a room with me and not think of me as the president?
Sydney Ellen Wade: This isn't a state of mind. You are the president. And when I'm in a room with you, oval or any other shape, I'm always gonna be a lobbyist, and you're always gonna be the president.
President Andrew Shepherd: I have news for you, Sydney. As a lobbyist, you'd never be alone in a room with the president.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth of Cool (2001)

Soundtrack:

Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 MVT 1

Warm, fun film with a big heart

US President Andrew Shepherd is a widower who was sweep into power on the back of great public sympathy. Three years into his presidency he meets and falls for Sydney Ellen Wade, an environmental lobbyist. Eventually they begin to date against the counsel of his advisors, giving his rivals (most notably Senator Rumson) and the media the ammunition they need to begin to attack his presidency.

This is not exactely a political thriller. In fact it is as far removed from reality as you could imagine. However that's the point, this film doesn't pretend to be anything other than a romantic comedy - it has some political wranglings but it is very far from the (still very tidy and clean) rule of Martin Sheen's President in TV's The West Wing. However the story is nicely handled and Rob Reiner is natually very good at this type of thing. Here it occasionally is far too sickly sweet and sentimental, but most of it works well.

Douglas is good in the lead and looks quite acceptable as the President of the US - lets be honest, if it was him or "oil baron" Bush who would you pick? Bening is also good as Sydney but neither have anything outside of the usual romantic leads to do. The real strength here is the supporting cast - both in terms of class and sheer enterainment value.To name a few - Sheen, MJ Fox, Mathis, Dreyfuss - all big names, all funny performances.

Overall this is a big sloppy romantic comedy, but it's done with so much class that it's hard not to like it. Not brillant, but very enjoyable all the same.