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:

May the best man lose.

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

First live-action theatrical feature film of actor Ray Romano who apart from shorts and television had only done voice work in a cinema movie which was the animated Ice Age (2002).

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Goofs

When Handy and the President are playing golf for Sally, the President says "I'll take a seven", referring to how many strokes it took him to get the ball in the hole. Handy replies "actually, it's 15" but his lips are clearly saying "14". This happens again, in a close up, after Handy describes each of the president's strokes.

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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 Half in the Bag: Us and Paddleton (2019)

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Soundtracks

The Mayor of Simpleton
Performed by Jeffrey Cain Thompson, Cedric Lemoyne and Gregory Slay (as The Engine Room)

User Reviews

Raymond on the silver screen

Ray Romano makes the bold first step into feature films and judging by this films gross and other reviews it looks like his foot got burned.

This film is an enjoyable enough piece with a few good laughs and a decent story. Romano and Hackman work well together and Fred Savage is good as the Presidents aide.

It just lacks that killer punch that Romanos sitcom has and the jokes don't run as fluently as they could. Romanos character is so similar to his sitcom character that we are left waiting for his co-stars on the show to appear. Sadly they do not

Romano is a charming and funny guy and his charm carries the film and it is only when he is not on screen the film that the film really starts to flag. With the right script Romano could still have a film career but I think if he's waiting for the script for "Welcome Back to Mooseport" to come through his letterbox he could be waiting a long time.

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mooseport

Filming Locations:

Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,775,132, 22 February 2004

Gross USA:

$14,470,947

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,615,099

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