IMDb > Swing Vote (2008)
Swing Vote
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Swing Vote (2008) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 56 | slideshow) Videos (see all 40)
Swing Vote (2008) -- Swing Vote Trailer
Swing Vote (2008) -- Clip: Kelsey and Stanley
Swing Vote (2008) -- Behind the scenes: Madeline
Swing Vote (2008) -- Interview: Madeline Carroll "On reading the script"
Swing Vote (2008) -- This is the theatrical trailer for Swing Vote, directed by  Joshua Michael Stern.

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Overview

User Rating:
6.1/10   6,333 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 7% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Jason Richman (written by) &
Joshua Michael Stern (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Swing Vote on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
1 August 2008 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
One ordinary guy is giving the candidates a reason to run.
Plot:
In a remarkable turn-of-events, the result of the presidential election comes down to one man's vote. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(91 articles)
Waterworld Blu-ray Review
 (From Collider.com. 15 November 2009, 9:14 AM, PST)

DVD Weekly Roundup – Mon 28th September 09
 (From FilmShaft.com. 27 September 2009, 5:52 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
Costner's Charisma and a Couple of Sharp Jabs at Dems and Republicans more (71 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for language.
Runtime:
120 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
UK:12A | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Ireland:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44167) | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-3 | Argentina:13 | Mexico:A | Peru:PT

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Kate watches video, including the surreptitiously-recorded video of Molly, on a Chyron Duet, a broadcast graphics machine. It can use video files, but it's generally not used for viewing video. more
Goofs:
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Bud wonders why so many people are outside his trailer, he tells Molly to turn on the TV. The screen shows Fox News Channel, but the TV has rabbit ears. Satellite TV subscribers sometimes need an antenna to view local channels. more
Quotes:
Molly Johnson: Bud, if you blow this, I'm leaving. more
Movie Connections:
References "Entertainment Tonight" (1981) more
Soundtrack:
Always On My Mind more

FAQ

Who does Bud end up voting for?
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
Is this movie based on a book?
more
26 out of 31 people found the following comment useful.
Costner's Charisma and a Couple of Sharp Jabs at Dems and Republicans, 3 August 2008
8/10
Author: Danusha_Goska

"Swing Vote" is a good movie. It could have been great, but it isn't, but it is still good. At its best, it invokes Frank Capra's classic films on politics, including "Meet John Doe" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." It never reaches their level, though, and that failure to hit the top is a bit frustrating.

An older, dumpier, and shabbier Kevin Costner is the best part of the film. Costner is a star and that shows here. Even the grunge that is his costume in almost every scene can't disguise his charisma. Costner's voice has not aged and he uses it to great effect, especially in a final speech.

The film draws laughs by parodying our two major political parties, with a Democratic presidential candidate starring in the funniest anti-abortion TV commercial ever made (no doubt its competition was slim, but it is very funny) and a Republican presidential candidate touting his party's tender concern for the environment.

These excellent scenes make you wish that the movie had gone deeper. It doesn't, though. It veers off into dead-end soap opera subplots about Costner's daughter's boyfriend from school and her attempt to live with her estranged mother (Mare Winningham, in a role that should have ended up on the editing room floor, as it contributes nothing to the film.) The casting wasn't great. The two presidential candidates and their aids end up being cardboard cut-out stereotypes of Machiavellian evil (Stanley Tucci) and compromise (Nathan Lane). Kelsey Grammar and Dennis Hopper, as the candidates, never transcend their "Frasier" and "Easy Rider" personas. Other actors, perhaps unknowns, should have been cast in these two key roles.

Paula Patton, the woman who played what would have been the Barbara Stanwyck role in the Frank Capra movie, was pretty as a little doll and a complete bore. This is part of a pattern in today's Hollywood; female leads must have the perfectly perky looks of a plastic doll; there's no need for them to be talented. Male leads, like Costner, can be beat-up, and slovenly, but must be talented. Patton's role, that of the desperate, sharp, female reporter who gains inside knowledge of a national story, is underwritten, and she does nothing with it. It's a dead-end, and that's a shame. It makes me want to rewatch "Meet John Doe" in which Stanwyck worked so well as the female reporter.

Overall, though, this movie is better than much else at the multiplex, and it at least ventures into the world of ideas.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Swing Vote (2008)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Bud's mystery vote; an acceptable ending? kArMa457
this movie was great to watch...until.. badonofrio
Loved The FOX Reference stormlord-2
where was Bud's mobile home located? tippytoez28
How To Blow A Perfectly Good Premise jack_north
hollywood's portrayal of typical Americans gacaviale
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