The American President (1995)

A widowed U.S. President running for reelection and an environmental lobbyist fall in love. It's all above-board, but "politics is perception," and sparks fly anyway.

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writer:

Aaron Sorkin

Stars:

Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	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 Rumson
Nina Siemaszko	...	Beth Wade
Wendie Malick	...	Susan Sloan
Beau Billingslea	...	Agent Cooper
Gail Strickland	...	Esther MacInerney
Joshua Malina	...	David

Storyline

Andrew Shepherd is approaching the end of his first term as President of the United States. He's a widower with a young daughter and has proved to be popular with the public. His election seems assured. That is until he meets Sydney Ellen Wade, a paid political activist working for an environmental lobby group. He's immediately smitten with her and after several amusing attempts, they finally manage to go on a date (which happens to be a State dinner for the visiting President of France). His relationship with Wade opens the door for his prime political opponent, Senator Bob Rumson, to launch an attack on the President's character, something he could not do in the previous election as Shepherd's wife had only recently died.

---

Plot Keywords:

reference to franklin d. roosevelt | reference to martin van buren | president | speechwriter | bouquet | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. WB Shop / Warner Archive

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

17 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mi querido presidente

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$62,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,014,558, 19 November 1995

Gross USA:

$60,079,496

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$107,879,496

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment, Wildwood Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS DTS-Stereo Dolby SR Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The telephone number President Shepherd gives Sydney to call him back (456-1414) is in fact the number to the White House (area code 202).

---

Goofs

At the Christmas party, Syndey's purse cord is across her chest when she walks in but when she walks over to the president it is over her arm.

---

Quotes

Leo Solomon: [referring to her damaging her career if she has a romantic relationship with the President] There's never an egg timer around when you need one.

---

Alternate Versions

Company logos change between versions. For example, on the laserdisc, the movie starts with a 20-second silent Columbia logo (before the Castle Rock logo), and the end credits crawl includes (after the title of the movie has gone onscreen) a line-art logo "Released by Columbia Pictures/A Sony Pictures Entertainment company" that crawls up and stops, over the end of the music. On the international prints, the 1990-1997 Universal logo was played and it was also silent. The 1999 WB DVD skips the opening logo, starting with the Castle Rock logo instead, and where the Columbia logo at the end should appear as the music ends, a still clouds-and-shield WB logo appears instead (Distributed by WB/A Warner Communications Company). The Columbia versions are probably truer to the original theatrical release. See also The Shawshank Redemption.

---

Connections

References Wall Street (1987)

---

Soundtracks

I Have Dreamed
By Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Arranged by Larry Blank and Marc Shaiman

User Reviews

My name is Andrew Shepherd and I AM the president of the United States!

Is there a genre that Rob Reiner can't work in and make successful? He captured comedy beautifully with The Sure Thing. Music was brilliant with This is Spinal Tap. Horror? How about Misery? Courtroom drama was awesome with A Few Good Men. And now we have a political drama/comedy. There is nothing this man can't do.

This movie works inspite of people's claims that it is too political. Well you know what, it's about the president of the United States of America, there's going to be a bit of poiltics in it. And guess what, guns do kill people, so to have an issue at hand here that deals with gun control is applaudable.

Okay, that's out of the way, let's talk about the film itself. Because it is wonderful. It is funny, well acted, and it is written with a good ear.

The cast in this film is one to be envied by almost everyone except Oliver Stone and Robert Altman who seem to get everyone to do their films. But here we have Douglas as the president, Sheen as his aid, Michael J. Fox, Samantha Mathis, Annette Bening as Sydney Ellen Wade and in my favourite performance, Richard Dreyfuss as the sniveling weasle Senator Bob Rumsen.

As the story goes, the president's character gets questioned when he ( a widow ) finds a girlfriend in Sydney Wade. The issues are handled wonderfully here. Nothing is really tip-toed around as the script writer ( Aaron Sorkin ) writes a brave script about what is right and wrong with being the president and having a girlfriend.

I personally liked the politics in the film. I enjoyed how Shepherd decides to ignore the critisism leveled at him until the very end when he gives one of the best written speeches I've ever seen in film. And when he flexes his authoritative muscles, you feel his power, you feel that the president has spoken. And I was moved. This is a great film and one that should be checked out for sure.

**** I also found it to be interesting that the character in the film that tries to get the issue of gun control brought to the forefront is Michael J. Fox. He is Canadian and we don't have problems with guns here. Is it a coincidence ( probably ) that he was chosen to play this role? Or was it done deliberately? Interesting.