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:

1.85 : 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:

The scene on the train where James Garner and Jack Lemmon jump to escape the government agents is strikingly similar to Garner's scene in 'The Great Escape' where Garner and Donald Pleasance jump off a moving train to escape pursuing Nazi soldiers. Garner even pushes Lemmon off the train first as he had to do with Pleasance's character who said, "I prefer you just give me good push."

Goofs:

Factual errors: The helicopter used as Marine 1 is not a VH-3 - it is either a Sikorsky S-62 (civilian version) or an ex-USCG HH-52A SeaGuard with the hoist removed, and painted to look like Marine 1 (with a fake exhaust on the right side). When the helo takes off, windshield wipers are clearly visible on the windscreen - when the cockpit is shown from the inside, there are no wipers. Also, there is no rotor brake cylinder mounted on the windscreen center post. Finally, the entire Caution Advisory Panel is lit up and this would be a requirement to land immediately. Furthermore, you cannot have normal conversation in an HH-52A - you use the ICS - the InterCom System, with either helmets or headsets equipped with microphones and press-to-talk switches. And - the President always debarks from the left side of Marine 1 - this shows them leaving from the right side.

Quotes:

[White House worker notices the gun in Rita's station wagon]
Rita: What you looking at? You been down to that farmer's market lately? It's brutal.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: My Fellow Americans (#3.8)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Bad Moon Rising

My Fellow Americans: 8/10

Jack Lemmon and James Garner are in top comedic form in My Fellow Americans. They, respectively, play former President Russell Kramer (Republican) and former President Matt Douglas (Democrat), who have spent the last thirty years hating each others guts. "It's always sad when another good Democrat dies," Douglas says to a Secret Service Agent while on the way to the funeral. "I believe that the deceased was a Republican, sir," he replies. To that, Douglas says, "Oh. Then this might not be so bad."

The current President, Haney (Dan Aykroyd) took kickback while Kramer was president. And Haney's trying to pin them on Kramer. Kramer and Douglas both know about it and Haney's going to try to kill them. When that proves unsucessful, Kramer and Douglas end up stranded alone in the middle of nowhere. So the two people, who loathe each other, must work together to tell thier fellow Americans while seeing the effect of their presidency on the general people.

There are too many political movies. There aren't many political comedies. There are even less raunchy political comedies. In fact, it seems that My Fellow Americans should have been raunchier to warrant an R rating. Peter Segal wanted it to be ribald, but it would have been easier to write for if they didn't have an PG-13 rating in mind, so they could open up the humor a little.

I really like the two leads. They had great chemistry together, I thought they actually hated each other. Lemmon and Garner had a great sense of comedic timing. The movie knew it was a comedy, but tried to take itself in a serious way, which has a great result. Other characters, however, pop up and then leave. Kay Griffin (Sela Ward), the reporter, has about two scenes, and Ben just pops up out of nowhere.

It was extremely funny. Its raunch mixed in with tries-to-take-it-serious humor: "Now, if you'll excuse me, my salad's getting cold." I can't really think of anything else to say.

My Fellow Americans is very funny with great leads. Look for it!

My rating: 8/10

Rated PG-13 for salty language and innuendo.