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IMDbPro

The American President

  • 1995
  • PG-13
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
59K
YOUR RATING
Michael Douglas and Annette Bening in The American 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, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    59K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Rob Reiner
    • Writer
      • Aaron Sorkin
    • Stars
      • Michael Douglas
      • Annette Bening
      • Martin Sheen
    • 257User reviews
    • 69Critic reviews
    • 67Metascore
  • See more 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 The American President (1995)
    Warren Beatty and Annette Bening at an event for The American President (1995)
    Billy Crystal at an event for The American President (1995)
    Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest at an event for The American President (1995)
    Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman at an event for The American President (1995)
    Michael Douglas at an event for The American President (1995)
    Jane Fonda and Ted Turner at an event for The American President (1995)
    Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant at an event for The American President (1995)
    Kenny G at an event for The American President (1995)
    Rob Reiner and Michele Singer at an event for The American President (1995)
    Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin at an event for The American President (1995)
    The American 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

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    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: 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 reviews257

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Warm, fun film with a big heart
    US President Andrew Shepherd is a widower who was sweep into power on the back of great public sympathy. Three years into his presidency he meets and falls for Sydney Ellen Wade, an environmental lobbyist. Eventually they begin to date against the counsel of his advisors, giving his rivals (most notably Senator Rumson) and the media the ammunition they need to begin to attack his presidency.

    This is not exactely a political thriller. In fact it is as far removed from reality as you could imagine. However that's the point, this film doesn't pretend to be anything other than a romantic comedy - it has some political wranglings but it is very far from the (still very tidy and clean) rule of Martin Sheen's President in TV's The West Wing. However the story is nicely handled and Rob Reiner is natually very good at this type of thing. Here it occasionally is far too sickly sweet and sentimental, but most of it works well.

    Douglas is good in the lead and looks quite acceptable as the President of the US - lets be honest, if it was him or "oil baron" Bush who would you pick? Bening is also good as Sydney but neither have anything outside of the usual romantic leads to do. The real strength here is the supporting cast - both in terms of class and sheer enterainment value.To name a few - Sheen, MJ Fox, Mathis, Dreyfuss - all big names, all funny performances.

    Overall this is a big sloppy romantic comedy, but it's done with so much class that it's hard not to like it. Not brillant, but very enjoyable all the same.
    helpful•44
    25
    • bob the moo
    • Feb 15, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 17, 1995 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Warner Bros.
      • WB Shop / Warner Archive
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Американський президент
    • 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
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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