| The American President | | Cast : | Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox | | Director : | Rob Reiner | | Studio : | Castle Rock | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen | | Released Date : | November 17, 1995 | | DVD Released Date : | February 03, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 22, 2005 | | Summary | A Fantasy That Transcends Politics | Content
 | This movie has long been my favorite. By the way if you're scanning this to figure out why I only gave this film four stars, it's because of the DVD format. No special features whatsoever. Hey Rob! Climb down off your wallet and do a commentary with Aaron. Annette, Michael, hows about a little interview or perhaps another commentary. Delete Scenes? Outtakes? I want to see Michael Douglas trip over the phrase "Upper Bi-cuspid Region." ::Climbs down off his soap box::
The title of my review says it all in a nutshell. If you're looking for Air Force One, Executive Decision or Thirteen Days, the buck does not stop here. This movie is a fairy tale. Think Ivan Reitman's "Dave." That movie starts with the Subtitle "Once Upon a Time." Exactly. It's Boy meets girl on a grand scale. It doesn't matter that President Andrew Shepherd is a Democrat, and Bob Rumsom (By the way, can you imagine "President Rumson?" Ick.) is a Republican. Rumson is the Antagonist (all good movies have one) period.
Richard Dreyfuss plays an exquisitely delicious villan, using President Shephard's new found love of Sydney Ellen Wade, for his own political gain.
Martin Sheen as Chief of Staff AJ MacInerney, now best known as President Josiah Bartlet on the West Wing, seems to be a fore-runner for the President Bartlet's own COS Leo McGarry (After all Aaron Sorkin [who is GOD] did write this movie and the series West Wing). Sheen is brilliant as Douglas' conscience and confidant.
Michael J Fox' character, Lewis Rothschild, and David Paymer's Leon Kodak, are Shephard's Prism. They show Shephard in Black and White, with no punches pulled, where he's at, where he's going and how to get there.
The other characters, while having lessor roles, are written and performed flawlessly, especially Wendie Mallick, Samantha Mathis, Josh Malina, and Anna Deavere Smith-- the last two of whom are also West Wing Alums. Lastly John Mahoney, always the consumate actor round out this amazing cast with a stellar performance of the secondary or quasi-antagonist.
Buy this movie with no political Axe to grind. Buy this movie without your reality blinders on-- Yes, I know it's a ridiculous premise, but so is the guy in a white suit with the crewcut sitting on a bench, and look what Zemekis got out of that one. It's a FAIRY TALE. It's FICTION. IT'S A MOVIE. Relax. Enjoy the film. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 12, 2005 | | Summary | Yup, I love it. | Content
| Since most of the other reviews are wordy, I don't have to be. Yay!
I adore this movie. I'm a huge ("yooge") fan of The West Wing, and since this film is essentially The West Wing (with a few characters in different roles), I really had no choice. Hee!
Granted, there are some continuity errors and a couple of "What the. . .?" moments, but what movie doesn't have those? C'mon, it's Annette Bening and Michael Douglas, ferheavens sake! I could watch this one 20 times in a row and still not tire of it. Then again, don't ask me how many times I've watched my West Wing DVD's, okay? |
| Rating | | | Date | May 06, 2005 | | Summary | A Presidential Love | Content
| The American President, a movie written by Aaron Sorkin and produced by Rob Reiner, is not your typical everyday love story although it does have its resemblances. A romantic, political comedy this movie provides us with great pleasure while watching events unfold. It can leave you wondering why certain things happen, and thinking how delightful this movie really is.
In The American President there are numerous well known actors that play extraordinary roles. Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Samantha Mathis and Richard Dreyfuss round out the main characters in the film. Other prominent actors included in the film are Anna Deavere Smith, and David Paymer.
Each of these actors looked like they felt extremely comfortable with their roles. According to Liz an Old Dominion student, "The actors just looked like they fit into their characters. They way they acted and spoke made me really think that could play these people in real life. Sydney Ellen Wade would have to be one of the characters. She played into her role and really gave an insight to how political lobbyists operate." Bridget a George Mason student said "This movie was so charming and romantic. The actors were absolutely stupendous and I think that they did an outstanding job portraying their characters, especially Michael Douglas playing the President. He was charismatic and showed that his acting skills range from an action figure to President of the United States."
To include a brief synopsis, widowed President Andrew Shepard (Michael Douglas), meets an environmental lobbyist named Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening). They have a confrontation over a bill that Sydney wants passed, which is a 20% reduction in the admission of fossil fuels. The President disagrees with the bill but says if she can get 24 votes by the State of the Union he will support her bill, there is another little argument before she leaves his office and something quite humorous occurs. After the confrontation he invites her to State Dinner where they really being to hit things off. She comes over for dinner the next night and they have a romantic moment beginning their romance. Meanwhile since this movie is taking place during an election year we have the political opponent, Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss), who would do anything in his power to beat President Shepard. Especially if this means that he will attack the President's character and his relationship with Sydney. He goes on television and begins to say horrible comments about her. During this time the President is also trying to support a bill of his own, the Crime Bill. Due to the relationship between the he and Sydney things begin to heat up when he has to choose between the two bills. The President finally makes a decision at a press conference which is also a heartfelt speech that he gives to the American people about his life. At the end of the movie we see the President walking into the chamber of Congress to deliver his State of the Union.
I would recommend The American President to anyone who enjoys a romantic political comedy. I feel the actors did an outstanding job and the plot was charming. Rachel a student at Radford University said, "Yes, I would recommend this movie to others. It was a good movie if you are into that romantic, political type." Liz and Rachel both agreed that men will also like this movie because it is not really a "chick flick" but more a movie that all can enjoy. If you like this movie and you would like to watch more movies related to presidential romance and politics I would recommend Dave and Air Force One. I hope everyone enjoys The American President and falls in love with it as much as I did.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 19, 2005 | | Summary | A bit cheesy and cliched, but I can see why people love it | Content
| Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, The American President should have been considered for other Oscars as well (maybe even Best Picture, although I realize it's not the great drama of the century). Nevertheless, The American President is a fun romantic comedy reminiscent of the old Frank Capra movies. Although not handled with kid gloves, the president comes across as fairly shy and innocent in his relationship with a Washington lobbyist, creating a charming contrast considering the power of his office. Released in 1995, The American President is one of a number of mainstream movies favorably focused on the presidency, with Dave and Air Force One leading the list (did liberal Hollywood producers hope some of the favorable light would rub off on Clinton?) That's debatable. But what's not debatable is that The American President is one of the best romantic comedies of the decade...
Michael Douglas plays the role of Andrew Shepard, widower and President of the United States. In the political world, Shepard is king - enjoying unprecedented highs in his job approval rating. But the president's private world is empty. The president's daughter is the only close person in his personal life, and he greatly misses his wife. Following an environmental policy meeting with Washington lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), Shepard considers asking her out. But he takes advice from aides A.J. MacInerney (Martin Sheen) and Lewis Rothschild (Michael J. Fox) en route to making his decision.
When the president does arrange a date with Sydney, her presence at the White House is leaked to the media, and the president's approval rating falls (I'm not exactly sure why, seeing as how the American public would have to be totally deranged to forbid a widower from dating). The growing scandal is further compounded by opposition leader Senator Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss) who uses the scandal as a launching pad for his own campaign to win the presidency. Will the good guys win, or will the evil Rumson take down the president?
The plot structure of The American President is nothing new, and the screenplay itself is far from masterful. But what makes this film so successful is the way in which the cast breathes life into the dialogue. Michael Douglas, as President Andrew Shepard, shows the audience why he is a Hollywood titan. His presidential demeanor is a West Wing prelude which should make Martin Sheen proud, yet his interaction with Sydney Ellen Wade and his daughter Lucy (Shawna Waldron) paint a human picture of a tough political character. The other half of the equation, Annette Bening, plays her role to perfection as well, transforming from the rough political creature of a hard-nosed Washington lobbyist to a giggly school girl swept off her feet by a great guy (who, incidentally, happens to be the president).
One of the more interesting aspects of The American President is that the screenwriters made Andrew Shepard a widower and not a divorcee. Despite the overall acceptance of divorce in current society, the film wouldn't have worked if the president were divorced. Subconsciously, it would implant an idea in some members of the audience that he's a dog. That's an interesting footnote in my opinion. Also of further note are the appearances of Michael J. Fox (who later starred as a political operative in the TV series Spin City) and Martin Sheen (who later starred as the president in the TV series West Wing). Did The American President peak their interest in such roles, or were they already pursuing those types of roles? Either way, The American President will delight and entertain audiences of all ages, and that's why it's a definite must-see movie...
The DVD Report |
| Rating | | | Date | March 11, 2005 | | Summary | lefty wish fulfilment? Maybe. Great romantic comedy? Sure! | Content
| Politcally slick, but immensely enjoyable, more so than its more serious and less romantic version - "The Contender". In this flick, Michael Douglas plays Andy Schepard, Hollywood's version of the perfect president - a center-left people-pleaser who doesn't let his Stanford education (under a nobel-prize winning economist) or his perfect grades get between him and the soul of the American people. The movie starts off with his presidency on a high note - with the state of the union address in the offing, Schepard's enjoying unprecedented approval ratings, and we can immediately sense why - he's smart and surrounds himself with a staff of fast talking, fast thinking wiseguys. A widower, Schepard he falls for Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Benning), a shark of a consultant who works for a DC-based lobby committed to environmental protection. Mixing politics and pleasure, Schepard courts Wade even as he pushes for Congress to pass groundbreaking legislation Wade's lobby has been seeking for years. The president's foes (arch conservatives in the fatcat mold) seize on the affair as a way to take down the popular President and the liberal causes. Conscious but apathetic to the minds of Americans who don't approve of the widowed Chief's extra-marrital romancing (of a liberal, no less), the all-too decent Schepard remains silent about his relationship, determined not to let the business of statesmanship become bogged down by meaningless debates about "character" - even as both become touch-stones of the vile neo-conservative Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss, in a thankless role). Although the script plays up the idea that the president's private life is his own, it also blurs the lines between Schepard's and Wade's two relationships (lovers on the one hand, president-to-lobbyist on the other) making it impossible to separate the Chief's private life with his public existence and compounding the problem by having Schepard propose a complex deal with Benning under which he will push for her environmental protection bill if she can guarantee enough support for it. Schepard is under pressure to pass his own pet-bill, a deceptively revolutionary anti-crime package, but figures that he can sell Congress on his bill and Sydney's if she can guarantee enough support for her own. When Schepard's romance so erodes his popularity that he'd be hard-pressed to pass either bill alone (even when Sydney fullfills her half of the deal, and signs on a hated triumvirate of auto-industry pols behind her environmental bill), the President finds himself in a deep dilemma that touches on his love for Wade and his duty to his office.
Liberal wish fulfillment? Not a doubt. The film is also incredibly disengenuous - positing Rumson at the center of a bunch of fatcat republicans who sip brandy while considering the unprincipled ends to which they will use Wade against Schepard, as if they had nothing more appropriate to use against him. (The film summarily dismisses Rumson and fellow right-wingers as backward political hacks who go for the jugular and base their popularity on the votes of older nostalgic Americans.) The biggest cheat is Schepard's staunch unwillingness to confront the vile Bob Rumson directly on the "character" issue. "American" is a film about politicians, but it's not really all that political - it touches on issues like fossil-fuel emissions, flag burning and Uzis bought by 8 year olds not so much to deal with them as to remind us where each of the characters stood. Since the film is largely if surprisingly apolitical the character issue is pretty much the only real nugget the script has. By keeping Schepard silent on that subject until the end of the movie, the script saves both sides the trouble of really tearing to pieces the question of whether a president can sleep with the proponents of legislation pending in Congress without raising a few well-reasoned doubts. By then, there's only one side given adequate time to really deal with that question (which one, you ask?) Instead, the script's GOP, the brandy-sipping fatcats, never utter a word about gun-control, abortion, church-state separation, corporate welfare or the environment - something even liberals can't believe. While Schepard prefers to ignore "the character issue", the script immediately hits upon it - sure to remind us of his top-flight education (his "Stepford Child" grades), his integrity, his honest-to-goodness honesty and how much everybody seems to like him. All of our heroes are smart and funny, and even the slings and arrows of political misfortune just roll of their backs.
If the movie rises above its lefty addictions for even this right-wing fundamentalist, it's because it's west-wing wish fulfillment is pretty much unconcealed. Think of this flick as a liberal version of "Red Dawn" - a movie that doesn't so much change people's minds as reinforce what their minds were. Gun-control liberals can sit through that flick because they know going in that it's about a bunch of rural farm kids with guns staring down the Red Army; - ditto in "President" for card-carrying NRA members who get pretty much what they expected, politically speaking in any event. The clever repartee of its characters (especially David Paymer and Michael J. Fox as his consultants - one being fearless, the other seeing portents of doom everywhere) keeps the film from getting to heavy and messagey. Nor could the story be dismissed as apologia for the Lewinsky affair - with Wade's position as a lobbyist making her relationship with Schepard look more questionable (not less) than "Monica-gate". Schepard is no Bill Clinton, Sydney Ellen Wade is no Monica. In short, this is a flick even Bob Rumson can enjoy. |
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