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    Swing Vote

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    “Swing Vote” doesn’t have any bite to it, making it more of a disappointment than a bad movie. It begins with a great premise: What if a single vote was going to decide the outcome of the presidential election? Many people do not take voting seriously because they don’t feel like politicians understand what the “average guy” is like, they don’t feel like anything is going to change even if a different person is in the Whitehouse and they don’t feel like their vote matters. What if all of a sudden that one vote did really count? What if one person held the United States’ presidency in his hand and the guy was a moron who, under no circumstances whatsoever should be the one making this kind of monumental decision?

    Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner) is not interested in politics. His daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll) takes the 2008 election more seriously than he does. She registers him and attempts to vote on his behalf, but a malfunction leaves Bud with the only vote uncounted for. New Mexico’s entire election will be decided by Bud.

    The problem is that the movie doesn’t go the way you expect it to. I foresaw this plot becoming a parody or satire of the current status of voters. It isn’t. “Swing Vote” is a family drama, about a father who’s a total loser and can barely manage his current responsibilities. All of a sudden becomes the one person who will now bear enormous responsibility and you’re not sure if he’s up to the task.

    The FILM just plays it way too safe. Sure the dad is a loser, but you know what? He’s a nice guy at heart. He loves his daughter and does the best he can. He’s even a talented musician and if he got the right break, he would surely be a pretty successful guy. Sure, he might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but with a little help from his little girl, well he’ll be able to see through all of the razzle dazzle and be able to put away his selfish desires to make the right decision. If only “Swing Vote” would’ve made him into a real person instead of this movie cliché! Make him an educated sleaze ball who will take advantage of the situation, or a moron so stupid that he’s sure to doom the entire country, or a bigoted racist that everyone will hate but that the politicians have to pander to in an effort to get his vote, not a guy who has no opinions on anything. In its efforts to make Bud into the everyman, he doesn’t stand out at all. Aside from the fact that he loves fishing, has little education, loves his daughter and likes to drink you don’t really know anything about him. You don’t have a feel for what he might be looking for or what kind of things other than his main four interests you might have in common with him.

    It’s not only our main character that has no real personality. Molly is a smart girl who takes cares of her father and is way smarter than she should be… but she’s no different from all of the other smart kids you see in movies. She’s not passionate about anything besides the immediate issue of voting. The side characters we are introduced to, such as a reporter played by Paula Patton is the same. She’s grown up in the same town as our main character and wants to keep her integrity while climbing the ratings but we don’t really get to know her more than that. The presidential candidates are virtually interchangeable and you never get a sense that one could possibly be the “best” candidate. We’re only given the minimum amount of relevant information about them.

    The father-daughter relationship feels like it’s taken out of everything other feel-good family drama. It’s the bright student who deserves the best in the world but is stuck with the screw up of the father. He loves her but can’t manage to get his things in order, until he really gets down and learns a bit more about his little angel. Afterwards he’ll finally get the motivation he needs to pick up the pieces. It’s paint-by-numbers.

    It’s not that “Swing Vote” is really bad. The performances are fine, the movie looks good and the actors play well off of each other. For such a good premise, it feels like all of these resources are wasted on what comes down to a Hallmark channel drama-comedy that isn’t that funny or heart wrenching. There’s a better film to be made out this premise than “Swing Vote” but if you’re the kind of person that just wants a nice comedy that won’t challenge you and that ends in an uplifting, safe and cheerful manner (perhaps your mom that doesn’t like movies because she’s frail, elderly and has lost all her spunk) it will do the trick. (On DVD, March 12, 2013)

    4
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    adamwatchesmovies@  14.1.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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