Head of State (2003)

When a presidential candidate dies unexpectedly in the middle of the campaign, Washington, D.C. alderman, Mays Gilliam is unexpectedly picked as his replacement.

Director:

Chris Rock

Writers:

Chris Rock, Ali LeRoi

Stars:

Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Lynn Whitfield

10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Rock	...	Mays Gilliam
Bernie Mac	...	Mitch Gilliam
Dylan Baker	...	Martin Geller
Nick Searcy	...	Brian Lewis
Lynn Whitfield	...	Debra Lassiter
Robin Givens	...	Kim
Tamala Jones	...	Lisa Clark
James Rebhorn	...	Senator Bill Arnot
Keith David	...	Bernard Cooper
Tracy Morgan	...	Meat Man
Stephanie March	...	Nikki
Robert Stanton	...	Advisor
Jude Ciccolella	...	Mr. Earl
Nate Dogg	...	Self
Angie Mattson	...	Nate's Girl

Storyline

One candidate for the presidency dies in an accident a couple of weeks before the election. Meanwhile the alderman Mays Gilliam becomes a hero when he rescues a woman and her cat from an old house that would blow up. However his fiancee Kim does not pay his bills and dumps him, and Gilliam loses everything including his fancy car. When Senator Bill Arnot sees the news on television, he plots a scheme with the party advisors Martin Geller and Debra Lassiter to invite Mays to be the party nominee and lose the election for the other candidate, Vice-President Brian Lewis. Four years later, he would be the candidate and would have the chance of winning the election. Mays has a terrible beginning of campaign but when his older brother Mitch Gilliam meets him in Chicago, he advises Mays to be himself. Will he have the chance to be the first African American President of the USA?

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Plot Keywords:

dreamworks | satirical | party | alderman | washington d.c. | 

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Taglines:

The only thing white is the house.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language, some sexuality and drug references

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chris Rock got the idea for this story from the 1984 Walter Mondale/Geraldine A. Ferraro ticket, in which the Democrats thought that since they had no chance of winning against Ronald Reagan/George Bush, they might as well make a historic first so they can win support for the next election. So they ran Ferraro as the first ever woman vice president candidate for their party (and lost).

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Goofs

During the wrestling match, several people in the background are seen holding campaign posters depicting Mays and his brother as running together. At this point in the film, his brother had not been announced as his running mate.

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Quotes

Mays Gilliam: No, you can't use food stamps to buy tires.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, it lists many famous politicians, then in parenthesis it says "(Are not in this movie)".

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Connections

Referenced in Real Time with Bill Maher: Episode #14.35 (2016)

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Soundtracks

Let Me Know
Written by Hi-C & David Blake
Performed by Hi-C
Courtesy of Hi Life/Laneway

User Reviews

Lacking intelligence and humor

An incompetent, barely significant local DC official, Chris Rock, gets plucked from obscurity by a major political party, presumably Democrats though Rock doesn't have the guts (or perhaps intelligence) to name any parties, to run and lose against an uber-conservative sparkling generality pusher Vice President Lewis. Rock's socialist hip-hop, straight-talk campaign takes him all the way to the top of the polls.

Barely ten minutes into this movie, the viewer is convinced that its political content has been dumbed down for the audience, because of course everyone loves to be patronized. But by a half-hour into it, you realize that there is no shred of reality to be found; this is little more than one of Rock's favorite day-dreams that he somehow convinced a studio to fund into a poor movie (probably by emphasizing the fact that it's a "black president" comedy, and the industry has been dying to capitalize on that idea for years).

Besides its lack of political intelligence, it's just plain not funny. Rock establishes about five jokes in the beginning and keeps playing them over and over, unaware that they weren't particularly funny the first time. I had very high expectations for this film - a biting, controversial examination of America. Perhaps, I should have just watched Blazing Saddles again because Rock seems barely informed on his own race's history. This movie could set civil rights back 40 years if anyone took it seriously.

Even the most useless and unrealistic of political comedies (Legally Blone 2) had some genuine inspiring moments about refining the system and making it work. Head of State is absolutely painfully excrutiating. It is ignorant, humorless, promotes stereotypes and child abuse, and its only strength is its frequent use of a DMX song.

Skip this and watch Bullworth!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Head of State

Filming Locations:

Annapolis, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,503,484, 30 March 2003

Gross USA:

$38,125,247

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$38,620,484

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dreamworks Pictures, 3 Arts Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1