Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Swing Vote DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Kevin Costner Election Day Sitcom Released on DVD

Ernest “Bud” Johnson (Kevin Costner) is a middle-aged slacker raising his 12 year-old daughter, Molly (Madeline Carroll), by himself in Texico, New Mexico.
Bud’s day job is at a local egg factory, where the pay is barely enough to keep a roof over their heads. And even that lowly, assembly line position is currently in jeopardy because of an influx of Mexicans willing to “work twice as hard for half the money.”
Then, when Bud’s job does finally get “insourced” as he describes it, rather than look for gainful employment, he drowns his woes in alcohol at his favorite watering hole. Life changes soon after state officials inform him that, due to an electronic voting machine malfunction, his ballot was the only one not counted in the presidential election. Otherwise, the tally ended in a tie, so his vote will determine whether the next president will be the Democratic challenger, Donald Greenleaf (Dennis Hopper), or the Republican incumbent (Kelsey Grammer).
Even if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief long enough to swallow this idiotic premise, Swing Vote is ultimately bitterly disappointing with nothing much to offer other than some sappy sermonizing about exercising your patriotic duty to vote. The picture ends on a cliffhanger leaving the election unresolved, as if setting us up for a sequel. What a cinematic slap in the face!
On second thought, maybe there was a winner here, corporate America, judging by the distracting omnipresence of very distracting product placements. Next time, would you mind at least including an ending, if you’re going to ask us to watch two hours of commercials?
A string of shameless sales pitches.

Poor (0 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity.
Running time: 120 minutes
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Commentary by the director and scriptwriter, interviews, a music video, deleted scenes and “The Making of” featurette,

To see a trailer of Swing Vote, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWodSDYgfXA

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