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Hallo, Mr. President

Original title: The American President
  • 1995
  • 6
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
61K
YOUR RATING
Michael Douglas and Annette Bening in Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
Home Video Trailer from Columbia Pictures
Play trailer1:35
2 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyDramaRomance

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.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.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
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    61K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Rob Reiner
    • Writer
      • Aaron Sorkin
    • Stars
      • Michael Douglas
      • Annette Bening
      • Martin Sheen
    • 263User reviews
    • 59Critic reviews
    • 68Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 win & 11 nominations total

    Videos2

    The American President
    Trailer 1:35
    Watch The American President
    A Guide to the Work of Aaron Sorkin
    Clip 5:24
    Watch A Guide to the Work of Aaron Sorkin

    Photos212

    Michael Douglas and Annette Bening in Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Warren Beatty and Annette Bening at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Billy Crystal at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Michael Douglas at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Jane Fonda and Ted Turner at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Lyndie Benson and Kenny G at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin at an event for Hallo, Mr. President (1995)
    Hallo, Mr. President (1995)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Michael Douglas
    Michael Douglas
    • Andrew Shepherd
    Annette Bening
    Annette Bening
    • Sydney Ellen Wade
    Martin Sheen
    Martin Sheen
    • A.J. MacInerney
    Michael J. Fox
    Michael J. Fox
    • Lewis Rothschild
    Anna Deavere Smith
    Anna Deavere Smith
    • Robin McCall
    Samantha Mathis
    Samantha Mathis
    • Janie Basdin
    Shawna Waldron
    Shawna Waldron
    • Lucy Shepherd
    David Paymer
    David Paymer
    • Leon Kodak
    Anne Haney
    Anne Haney
    • Mrs. Chapil
    Richard Dreyfuss
    Richard Dreyfuss
    • Senator Rumson
    Nina Siemaszko
    Nina Siemaszko
    • Beth Wade
    Wendie Malick
    Wendie Malick
    • Susan Sloan
    Beau Billingslea
    Beau Billingslea
    • Agent Cooper
    Gail Strickland
    Gail Strickland
    • Esther MacInerney
    Joshua Malina
    Joshua Malina
    • David
    Clement von Franckenstein
    Clement von Franckenstein
    • President D'Astier
    Efrat Lavie
    Efrat Lavie
    • Madame D'Astier
    John Mahoney
    John Mahoney
    • Leo Solomon
    • Director
      • Rob Reiner
    • Writer
      • Aaron Sorkin
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Before the movie starting shooting, Michael J. Fox was still keeping his Parkinson's disease a secret. He felt he would lose the role if Rob Reiner found out. During a basic and routine fitness screening, Fox was terrified that clinicians would detect the periodic shaking in his left hand and eventually connect it to Parkinson's. Fortunately for Fox, he took his medication in time to quell the shaking and the test amounted to nothing more than checking heart rate and blood pressure.
    • Goofs
      After the President's big speech at the end of the movie, staff members are walking quickly back to re-write the State of the Union address. After Leon says "Well, you don't see that every day," Louis says "Yeah - he's got the members of the press corps asking each other how to spell 'erudite.'" Although the president never uses the word 'erudite' in his speech, erudite is an apt description of his demeanor during the speech. This was a reference to his demeanor, not a reference to something he said.
    • Quotes

      Lewis Rothschild: [in the Oval Office] You have a deeper love of this country than any man I've ever known. And I want to know what it says to you that in the past seven weeks, 59% of Americans have begun to question your patriotism.

      President Andrew Shepherd: Look, if the people want to listen to...

      Lewis Rothschild: They don't have a choice! Bob Rumson is the only one doing the talking! People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.

      President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference.

    • 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
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Fair Game/Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain/Home for the Holidays/Powder/Three Wishes (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050, 1st Movement: Allegro
      by Johann Sebastian Bach

    User reviews263

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Rob Reiner & Aaron Sorkin Channel Frank Capra
    Aaron Sorkin sets a snappy pace for this classic romance/comedy/Cinderella Story, utilizing the White House, the President, and his staff as the conduit for his dialogue writing prowess.

    Clearly, this film helped influence the creation of 'The West Wing' TV Series four years later, even using the same Oval Office set shown in this film. The sets and atmosphere are presented in immaculate detail, and authentic looking, surpassing anything ever portrayed in film other than the Whitehouse itself. I've been in the real Whitehouse, including the Oval Office, and have also sat at the faux Resolute desk on the set of West Wing (same desk used in this film). There was a tremendous investment made to recreate the real thing in this film, and Reiner pulled it off perfectly.

    In Sorkin's screenplays, self-confidence, keen intellect, superior communication ability, and one's ethics-compass are at the core of the protagonist's persona.

    Michael Douglas portrays Democratic President Andrew Shepherd with the same believability and deft touch as he did playing Gordon Gecko in Wall Street.

    Annette Benning is the ideal girlfriend of the widowed Shepherd, and engages the audience (and Douglas) in one of her most charming performances.

    A first-class supporting actor ensemble are up to the task of portraying Sorkin's crack White House staff, adding immensely to making this film a feel-good romance that is believable and fun.

    The plot doesn't delve deeply into the emotions or feelings of Shepard nor Benning's lobbyist charecter Sydney Ellen Wade, but highlights the witty repertoire one would expect from a US President and Capitol Hill lobbyist. The deft skill and movie-star quality each actor has developed in their respective acting careers are showcased with Sorkin's writing in telling this Whitehouse Cinderella story.

    If the film went deep into emotions, it would have just gotten in the way of a story of a widowed relatively young President falling in love at first sight with Sydney, and the fun of seeing her being thrust into the White House staff and press fish bowl.

    There is a definite Frank Capra influence to the film.

    It all works better than it might seem on paper, and we get to enjoy another Rob Reiner classic: A director whose movie-making style and subject-matter is as diverse as anyone in the business.
    helpful•33
    3
    • Instant_Palmer
    • Jan 28, 2019

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 14, 1995 (Germany)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Warner Bros.
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • The American President
    • Filming locations
      • Kenneth Hahn State Recreational Area - 4100 S. La Cienega Blvd., Ladera Heights, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Universal Pictures
      • Castle Rock Entertainment
      • Wildwood Enterprises
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $62,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $60,079,496
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $10,014,558
      • Nov 19, 1995
    • Gross worldwide
      • $107,879,496
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 54 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • SDDS
      • DTS-Stereo
      • Dolby SR
      • Dolby
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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