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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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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:

The American President

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

President Shepherd says to his Chief of Staff, A.J. MacInerney (Martin Sheen), "Someday, someone is going to have to explain to me the virtue of a proportional response." In The West Wing (1999), President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) asks his Chief of Staff, "What is the virtue of a proportional response?" Both were written by Aaron Sorkin.

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Goofs

Near the end of the movie when Sydney asks how he was able to send flowers to a woman while he was President and The President says "It turns out I have a rose garden". Since the State of the Union address occurs in January it is highly unlikely for the rose garden to have been in bloom in January in Washington DC. However, given some of their previous joking interactions, it's likely the President was just being a smart-ass.

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Quotes

President Andrew Shepherd: [in his bedroom] How much do you make?
Sydney Ellen Wade: More than you do, Mr. President.
President Andrew Shepherd: The name is Andy. How much money do you make?
Sydney Ellen Wade: What the hell does it matter how much money I make?
President Andrew Shepherd: You raise your voice to the president?

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Jackie Brown (1997)

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Soundtracks

Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050, 1st Movement: Allegro
by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

good romance

This film worked for the same reason the West Wing works... it humanizes the President. Yes, the most powerful man in the world has feelings and falls in love. I liked one reviewer's comment saying that this film is Capra-esque. It certainly is because of its overall feel-good aspect and optimism. I enjoyed this film, and Michael Douglas seldom disappoints me. 8/10.