Swing Vote arrives during one election cycle only heavily references another, spinning the suspension chad scandal of the 2000 presidential race into a formulaic feel-empowered comedy for today's huddled masses.
Bud (Kevin Costner) and Molly Johnson (talented newcomer Madeline Carroll) take Hollywood's schoolbook father-daughter duette: she's the pint-sized "adult" of the trailer they call home, and he's the whiney child. On the evening of a tight presidential race, a mix-up at the polls negates Bud's ballot, which doesn't sound like a big deal until it's determined that the election will hail down to a pic finish distinct by one vote -- Bud's. If you think that's even remotely possible, by all means, read on. As Bud gets a crash course in democracy from smarty-pants Molly, incumbent president of the United States Andrew Boone (Kelsey Grammer) and left-leaning White House hopeful Donald Greenleaf descend on Texico, New Mexico with glad-handlers in tow in hopes of fetching the slob's valuable support.
When I tell you Swing Vote hammers us over the header with its message, I couldn't be more literal. Costner's Bud stumbles out of a bar in one special scene and clunks his skull on a sign that reads "Vote today!" The fact that the same sign remains outside the tap house weeks afterwards puzzled me, but Swing isn't the kind of a celluloid that concerns itself with details.
Writer/director Joshua Michael Stern sets his phasers to "crowd pleaser." Corn-fed classical rock staples fill his soundtrack, spell scenes end predictably on the back-beats of forced one-liners. Costner can do the lovable loser in his slumber. He makes a nice team with Carroll, though they play the odd-couple tune until the guitar strings snap. The comportment of reliable supporting cast members -- Stanley Tucci, Nathan Lane, George Lopez, and Judge Reinhold -- lulls us into a false sense of comedic security. But aside from a few inspired military campaign advertisements created in reaction to Bud's wacky opinions, this screenplay is light on laughs (and overly scared to declare its own opinions on crucial matters, correct down to its abrupt non-ending).
Speaking of scared, deplumate back the studio glossary and you'll reveal a terrifying message. Swing Vote spends two hours demeaning the bushwhacker cowpokes of flyover res publica, then reminds us just how potent they canful be in a cosmopolitan election. Now that's shivery. Is it too late to change "We the people" to "We the people world Health Organization somehow are deemed fit?"
SPOILER: He votes for Nader.
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