Welcome to Mooseport (2004)

A US president who has retired after two terms in office returns to his hometown of Mooseport, Maine and decides to run for Mayor against another local candidate.

Director:

Donald Petrie

Writers:

Doug Richardson (story), Tom Schulman (screenplay)

Stars:

Gene Hackman, Ray Romano, Maura Tierney

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Hackman	...	Monroe Cole
Ray Romano	...	Handy Harrison
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Grace Sutherland
Maura Tierney	...	Sally Mannis
Christine Baranski	...	Charlotte Cole
Fred Savage	...	Bullard
Rip Torn	...	Bert Langdon
June Squibb	...	Irma
Wayne Robson	...	Morris Gutman
John Rothman	...	Stu
Karl Pruner	...	Dyer
David Macniven	...	Cloud
Jackie Richardson	...	Martha
Paul Bates	...	Bob
Reagan Pasternak	...	Mandy

Storyline

Monroe "Eagle" Cole is a former U.S. President ready to settle into a quaint little town named Mooseport. He's ready to take in the lion's share of endorsement deals and speaking engagements while developing his own presidential library. Meanwhile, Handy Harrison is a local hardware store owner with a girlfriend ready to throw in the towel on their relationship. Just as Monroe is offered the local mayor's position, he's found an unlikely opponent in Handy. But ultimately, both men have a lot to lose when the stakes are raised and a simple competition turns into an all out war.

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Plot Keywords:

mayor | small town | underwear | political campaign | upskirt | 

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Taglines:

This town isn't small enough for the both of them.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some brief sexual comments and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [United States]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mooseport

Filming Locations:

Brantford, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,775,132, 22 February 2004, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$14,469,428, 9 May 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Intermedia Films, Mediastream Vierte Film GmbH & Co. Vermarktungs KG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The picture premiered in a U.S. Presidential election year, the race being between Republican incumbent president George W. Bush and Democratic Party candidate and later Secretary of State Senator John Kerry. The movie debuted stateside in February of that year with the American federal election being held later in November.

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Goofs

When the president talks to his staff in his office right before the elections you can see that his light blue collar is flexed on both ends. In the next shot it is plain and braced looking.

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Quotes

Grace Sutherland: [after kissing Monroe] That was no handshake, you son of a bitch.

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Connections

Referenced in Difficult People: High Alert (2016)

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Soundtracks

The Thunderer
Written by John Philip Sousa

User Reviews

A good but not great movie

Donald Petrie's political comedy is spot-on for me, i mean its not an amazing social commentary or anything, but it provides some good laughs, good performances, decent story and plot. I liked Schulman's wit some of the dialogues were pretty funny and Petrie's direction suited the comedic manner in which this film was intended for. Hackman was very good while Romano was not bad either much better here than Grilled, meanwhile Marcia Gay Harden, Fred Savage and Rip Torn were also pretty good. Overall a decent comedy, solid film, no complaints here, should have a higher overall IMDb rating in my opinion.-- IMDb rating: 5.3, my rating: 8/10