My Fellow Americans (1996)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Peter Segal

Writers (WGA):

E. Jack Kaplan (story) &
Richard Chapman (story) ...

Release Date:

20 December 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

A comedy about life, liberty and the pursuit of two ex-presidents.

Plot:

Kramer and Douglas, two former presidents from opposite ends of the political spectrum, become reluctant...

Plot Keywords:

Coat | Illegal Immigrant | Sable | Gay Parade | Train

Cast

Jack Lemmon	...	President Russell P. Kramer
James Garner	...	President Matt Douglas
Dan Aykroyd	...	President William Haney
John Heard	...	Vice President Ted Matthews
Wilford Brimley	...	Joe Hollis
Lauren Bacall	...	Margaret Kramer
Sela Ward	...	Kaye Griffin
Everett McGill	...	Col. Paul Tanner
Bradley Whitford	...	Carl Witnaur
James Rebhorn	...	Charlie Reynolds
Esther Rolle	...	Rita
Conchata Ferrell	...	Woman Truck Driver
Jack Kehler	...	Wayne
Connie Ray	...	Genny
Tom Everett	...	NSA Agent Wilkerson

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for salty language and innuendo.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:S | Iceland:L | Netherlands:12 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Peters Entertainment

Trivia:

Lauren Bacall only has 11 lines in this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the presidents escape through the secret door the TV seems to turn itself off between shots.

Quotes:

Matt Douglas: Look, Joanna, if the book goes, if it doesn't go, I don't really care. I'm only writing it 'cause, frankly, I don't know what else to do.
Joanna: I'm sure you've got plenty of options.
Matt Douglas: Not really. But I'll tell you one thing, I'll never be like Kramer, running around the country sucking up every dime that isn't nailed down. Now Jimmy Carter, there's a class act. He goes around building homes for poor people with his own hands. That's classy.
Joanna: Well, you could do that.
Matt Douglas: Yeah, yeah. Maybe in a couple of years, but, uh, right now, my attitude is, they didn't vote for me, let 'em freeze.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Welcome to Mooseport (2004)

Soundtrack:

Over The Rainbow

A pleasant surprise.

When this film first came out, the trailers did not interest me in the least. I actually avoided seeing it so as to avoid seeing two cool actors make asses out of themselves (in a bad way). The film was rather poorly marketed, in other words. It looked like Beavis and Butthead with two old guys (in a bad way).

In other words, I'm glad this was the film shown on an Amtrak train a few years back. I think I was laughing harder than anyone else in my car. Frankly, I think a few jokes sailed over people's heads. I remember in particular that the hilarious mispronunciation of "facade" by Dan Ackroyd's clueless VP didn't merit a titter. A few people looked at me oddly when I laughed at it.

This isn't brilliant film-making, mind you. It's simply a vehicle for a lot of very talented comic actors to have fun with some ripe material. It may dip into preachiness now and again, but that is always redeemed ASAP by an entertaining round of rapid-fire bickering.

On an aside, I have to say that I've been in love with Lauren Bacall since I saw The Big Sleep for the first time. It was great to see her in this and even greater to see that she still has a knack for the sharply delivered one-liner. Also, for someone born in the 20s she looks amazing. You heard me right. At 82 years, Lauren Bacall is still hot. Bogie was a very lucky man.