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

When the president is moving into his house at Mooseport, the movers carry in a painting of Mount Rushmore. There are five faces on the mountain, it appears that the fifth is a likeness of President Monroe Cole (Gene Hackman).

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Goofs

Sally brings a box of Handy's stuff over to him when she's breaking up with him (her friend is driving). As she gets in the truck to leave and pulls the door closed, a crewmember holding a bounce card is reflected in the door.

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Quotes

Handy Harrison: There's supposed to be a meteor shower at eleven. That could be cool.
Sally Mannis: It'll have to be another time.
Handy Harrison: Oh, it's not gonna happen for 240 years. Oh, okay, I'll pencil that in.

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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

Politics...with some humour.

I somehow do not get it why some don't really like this. I mean, it's meant to be a comedy. Anyone living in a small town will kind of relate to this. I may be coming from someone growing up in an urban environment, but all the excitement of someone famous coming to live in a town is always so fun and surreal.

Monroe 'Eagle' Cole (Gene Hackman) had served two successful terms as the president. All he wanted to do is to enjoy his retirement. But his arrival to his hometown of Mooseport had caused some spectacle of sorts.

The last thing on Monroe's mind is to run for Mayor but then he was being persuaded by the local authorities to be one. But then he also had an opponent and it's in the form of local resident Handy Harrison (Ray Romano).

What was meant to be a fair fight for the mayor position had led to an all-out war of sorts, given the ex-president is meeting Handy's girlfriend Sally (Maura Tierney). It was meant to be a casual meeting between Monroe and Sally about discussing about having a pet, but the media had made it into a spectacle. Also around the same time, the former first lady Charlotte Cole (Christine Baranski) had shown up in Mooseport to support Handy to be the mayor.

On the polling day, it was quite a close fight. In fact, very close. It was like no surprise who won in the end.

My knowledge of small-town politics is not that wide, but then I am aware of the humour being thrown into it.

It's meant to be a fun movie, and nothing else. I do kind of like it.