Starring Kevin Costner, Madeline Carroll. Written by Jason Richman, Joshua Michael Stern. Directed by Joshua Michael Stern. (STC) 120 min. Opens Aug 1.
Somewhere between The Postman and Open Range, Kevin Costner decided playing a dirt bag was the new Stanislavski and never looked back. His alcoholic ex-baseball player was the perfect foil for Joan Allen’s icy resentment in The Upside of Anger and here, in political satire/soppy melodrama Swing Vote, Costner does us one better: Earnest “Bud” Johnson — a foul-mouthed, beer-swilling All-American loser who can’t be bothered to wake up for work, let alone vote — becomes the person responsible for choosing the next President of the United States. And what’s worse, the film posits that America deserves a bum like Bud, one of few interesting issues it dares to raise.
When Bud’s disapproving 12-year-old daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll) gets stood up on election night, she sneaks into the polling station and does his civic duty for him. Unknown to Bud, the machine’s snafu causes a dead-lock election to rest on a single vote in the sleepy town of Texico, New Mexico, as candidates from both sides (Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper are the red- and blue-state types, respectively) cater their platforms to Bud’s ever-changing whims.
First-time director/screenwriter Joshua Michael Stern has a knack for Gilmore Girls-style bantering, but not satire. Many critics will liken his direction to cinematic flip-flopping as the tone abruptly shifts from white-trash comedy to Wag the Dog absurdism (a pro-life commercial has children disappearing from a swing set in multi-coloured poofs), to a genuinely sad portrayal of Molly’s parental neglect. But Bud has a choice to make and — no matter how many NASCAR joy rides, Willie Nelson endorsements or poker hands Grammer’s incumbent President lets him win — Swing Vote makes a worthwhile statement on political engagement. Bud might not be able to speak for himself, but he does personify an apathetic America. And that’s why Swing Vote matters.