Swing Vote (2008)

In a remarkable turn-of-events, the result of the presidential election comes down to one man's vote.

Director:

Joshua Michael Stern

Writers:

Jason Richman, Joshua Michael Stern

Stars:

Kevin Costner, Paula Patton, Kelsey Grammer

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Costner	...	Bud Johnson
Madeline Carroll	...	Molly Johnson
Paula Patton	...	Kate Madison
Kelsey Grammer	...	President Andrew Boone
Dennis Hopper	...	Donald Greenleaf
Nathan Lane	...	Art Crumb
Stanley Tucci	...	Martin Fox
George Lopez	...	John Sweeney
Judge Reinhold	...	Walter
Charles Esten	...	Lewis (as Charles 'Chip' Esten)
Richard Petty	...	Richard Petty
Willie Nelson	...	Willie Nelson
Mare Winningham	...	Larissa Johnson
Mark Moses	...	Attorney General Wyatt
Nana Visitor	...	Galena Greenleaf

Storyline

November, 2004, New Mexico. Bud is a slacker with one good thing in his life, his engaging fifth-grade daughter Molly. On election day, Bud is supposed to meet her at the polling place. When he doesn't show, she sneaks a ballot and is about to vote when the power goes off. It turns out that New Mexico's electoral votes will decide the contest, and there it's tied with one vote needing recasting - Bud's. The world's media and both presidential candidates, including the current President, descend on Bud in anticipation of his re-vote in two weeks. Can the clueless Bud, even with the help of Molly and a local TV reporter, handle this responsibility?

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Plot Keywords:

presidential candidate | election returns | election coverage | election night | voting results | 

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Taglines:

Hey, America, This Guy's for You

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un papá muy poderoso

Filming Locations:

New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,230,669, 3 August 2008, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,284,360, 12 October 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures,Radar Pictures,1821 Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mare Winningham's character makes references to a history of drug addiction. In Wyatt Earp (1994) she played Mattie Blaylock, a laudanum addict who was Wyatt (Kevin Costner)'s common-law wife.

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Goofs

Ex-Felons in New Mexico are permanently banned from voting. During the movie Bud is reminded by his daughter that he has one strike left, meaning he was a two time felon. This would make his vote illegal.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Radio Announcer: After a hotly contested race Americans go to the polls today for what promises to be a very close election. The Republican incumbent Andrew Carrington is hoping to hold on to the Oval Office, taking on Democratic challenger...

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Crazy Credits

"and introducing Madeline Carroll"

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Connections

Featured in Film '72: Episode dated 23 September 2008 (2008)

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Soundtracks

Carry On
Written by Stephen Stills
Performed by Crosby Stills Nash & Young (as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Flim & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Costner is charming

Kevin Costner is adorable as the slacker father of a overachieving, 12-year-old daughter. The kid-as-parent/parent-as-kid premise wouldn't have worked nearly as well if Costner's character, Bud Johnson, weren't so darn lovable. If you're looking for perfectly coiffed, cleaned up Costner, you won't find him here. He mostly looks like your husband first thing in the morning -- you know, the scruffy hair, unshaven face, and glazed over, half-asleep look where you wonder what you ever saw in him? But inside is a heart of gold? He pulls this role off to perfection. He's the lovable underachiever always with a clueless grin.

When the attorney general shows up at his door to tell him basically that he has the deciding vote, Bud's only comment, in a half-whisper is, "Does this mean I'm going to have to do jury duty?" The movie is good -- in fact if you like Dave with Kevin Kline, you'll like Swing Vote.

However, it tried to combine two movies. One was the comedy with Bud being the ONLY voting demographic needing to be catered to -- hence, personal appearances by Richard Petty and Willie Nelson -- the other was a sometimes hard-to-watch story of a daughter, played by Madeline Carroll, caring for her alcoholic father.

Carroll is a wonderful actress, and would be stellar in a drama. Her wistful, knowing looks at her father's helplessness, and her astute understanding of her mother's inability to be a mother were heart-wrenching. That could have been an entire story in itself and often took away from the comic elements. Mare Winningham was fantastic as the mother who ran away. She, Costner and Carroll really clicked on screen in their one scene together as a family torn apart by the selfish indulgence of the parents to the detriment of the child who deserves more. I marveled at that scene until I remembered that Winningham and Costner were in the movie "The War" as parents torn apart by Vietnam to the detriment of their son, young Elijah Wood. Costner and Winningham should get together again in a more upbeat film. Their relationship is very natural.

But in spite of the sad, child-having-to-be-the-adult part of Swing Vote, it was 80% comedy, and Costner's antics made it laugh out loud funny at times. It didn't seem to be politically bent one way or the other. It was patriotic and commented on immigrants from Mexico taking away jobs from Americans. But it was also pro-environment and touched on lack of health care for the many. The end was pure feel-good. Everyone changed appropriately, realizing the true (Hollywood) meaning of voting in America.