Swing Vote has a sharp, clever script, grown-up laughs and a background filled with skilled funny men -- Nathan Lane, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer and George Lopez.
Comment
08/01/08
Swing Vote (2008)
37
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:141
Fresh:52
Rotten:89
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: Despite Kevin Costner providing his most charismatic performance in years, Swing Vote fails to find the right mix of political satire and heartfelt drama.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $16,229,781
Synopsis: Writer/director Joshua Michael Stern (NEVERWAS) tackles American politics in his second feature film. Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner) is just your below-average Joe. He works in an egg factory, likes... [More]
Starring: Kevin Costner, Paula Patton, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper
Director: Joshua Michael Stern
Reviews for Swing Vote
81 - 100 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Swing Vote is an amiable lug of a movie, part public service announcement, part political satire and part good-old-boy comedy with a spritz of sentiment hanging over the entire enterprise.
08/01/08
The filmmakers want to fashion a civics lesson but they don't bother to include anything of substance.
08/01/08
The undertones of Frank Capra come bubbling to the surface in a smarmy finale complete with French horn and bags of mail from the common folk.
08/01/08
Newcomer Joshua Michael Stern directs his own screenplay (co-scripted by Jason Richman) with great confidence and a solid flair for biting political humor.
08/01/08
Kevin Costner [is] always at his best when playing amiable rogues.
08/01/08
It's 2008. Why are we still microwaving Frank Capra's old casseroles? The movie turns racism, class woes, and social issues into jokes instead of engaging them with intelligence, wit, or a whiff of drama.
08/01/08
Kevin Costner can do certain kinds of American confusion better than anyone else.
08/01/08
This politically driven writer wants to like any film where the basic message is "pay attention, people," but the critic in me can't give a movie with all the subtlety of a lead hammer a pass on thematic intentions alone.
08/01/08
Near the end, Bud admits that his situation used to be funny, but now it isn't any more. The same, alas, can be said of the movie as a whole.
08/01/08
[Y]ou almost want to hug Swing Vote... it's so cute in how it thinks... that one-man-one-vote really is something akin to, well, maybe nine innings of baseball on a glorious summer's day.
08/01/08
Swing Vote isn't going to be remembered as the best political comedy of our time, but it's not a bad showcase for Costner, and its heart and brain are both in something close to the right place.
08/01/08
Would be innocuous if it weren't so utterly, utterly misguided...a black comedy that doesn't know it's a black comedy.
08/01/08
Not counting [Kevin]Costner's cliche-ridden speech, the movie has a great make-you-think ending. If only the beginning, the middle and the basic premise were that profound.
08/01/08
Swing Vote's satire is consistently unsurprising, even if it's warranted.
08/01/08
As a political shaggy dog story, [it's] an entertaining diversion from the real life 2008 campaign. For moviegoers hungry for substance, that may not be enough.
08/01/08
If Swing Vote seems ridiculously improbable (and it is), then it might be best to remind yourself that the presidency coming down to the votes of just one county in Florida seemed far-fetched once upon a time, too.
08/01/08
As in so many essentially childish movies, it's an actual child who's always the smartest pants in the room.
08/01/08
Even Frank himself would blanch at this serving of stale, sodden Capracorn.
08/01/08
Getting an 'A' for whimsy, Swing Vote might strike a chord with viewers who want a little light humor with their political discourse.
08/01/08
Latest News for Swing Vote
January 13, 2009:
With Costner's yokel having a decided preference for being handed a beer rather than a ballot, he does a pretty darn good job of exposing the phony platitudes and pandering of candidates, in a movie about bad news politicians and even badder parenting. 
More...
January 09, 2009:
With Costner's yokel having a decided preference for being handed a beer rather than a ballot, he does a pretty darn good job of exposing the phony platitudes and pandering of candidates, in a movie about bad news politicians and even badder parenting.
More...
August 18, 2008:
Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer Sued for Cribbing Swing Vote Script
Former Bush assistant and political pundit Bradley A. Blakeman claims the political comedy, in theaters now, was lifted from a script he spent eight years writing. More...
August 03, 2008:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: The Bat Still Going Strong, Three Weeks In
The Dark Knight won't losen its grip on the box office gold, but the Mummy is a very close silver. More...
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