If you want to cast your vote for smart, witty and irreverent filmmaking, this is the movie you’ve been waiting for.
Comment
08/01/08
Swing Vote (2008)
37
%
Tomatometer
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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
101 - 120 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
The picture's message is admirable and young Madeline Carroll exhibits real acting chops, but the film itself is overlong, horrendously lit, cliched and heavy handed.
08/01/08
It's the sort of bite-less parody that sticks to safe punchlines and goes out of its way to insult no one. You know, like a JibJab cartoon.
07/31/08
Swing Vote, to sound as cliche as possible, is a heartwarming film that is smart and laugh-out loud funny. Believe it or not, the flick sends an important message about politics.
07/31/08
It almost manages to restore (at least temporarily) one's faith in both the democratic process and Kevin Costner's career.
07/31/08
It's as if Stern were asked to make one of three films, but made the mistake of choosing 'All of the Above' instead.
07/31/08
When it was funny, I had a good time. When it tried to be serious and high minded, I fell asleep.
07/31/08
Kevin Costner the producer severely underestimates the ability of Kevin Costner the actor to win over the audience in this tepid satire of electoral politics.
07/31/08
Confirms Plato's view that the head of state should be a philosopher-king, not someone chosen by people from small towns like Texaco, NM.
07/31/08
spends two hours demeaning the hillbilly cowpokes of flyover country, then reminds us just how powerful they can be in a general election
07/31/08
Under the direction of co-writer Joshua Michael Stern, it emerges as third-rate Capracorn, leaden and lumpy where it should be swift and pointed.
07/31/08
Like so many presidential candidates, Swing Vote falls victim to unfulfilled promises, wasted opportunities and smug self-satisfaction.
07/31/08
Swing Vote isn't exactly a toothless political satire. It's something worse: a satire with dentures.
07/31/08
Neither nimble enough to reflect the times nor passionate enough to be inspiring, the election year comedy relies on broad-side-of-a-barn caricatures and out-of-the-mouths-of-babes platitudes.
07/31/08
Swing Vote captures the spirit of an election year when many once-apathetic Americans are keenly interested in the outcome. We have met the enemy and he is us. But so is the hero.
07/31/08
Swing Vote desperately wants us to think of it as a modern-day, 'populist' comedy, much like Frank Capra's beloved 1939 comedy, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, or the films of Preston Sturges.
07/31/08
The ridiculous setup is just the skeleton for something more substantial; the flesh of the movie is made of the funny, tender interactions between Bud and his daughter, Molly.
07/31/08
Top CriticA great cast but it's tough for actors to create laughs when the lines aren't funny, the leading man is miscast, the direction is hardly Capraesque, and the history ignorant.
07/31/08
If this is Everyman (and why else cast Costner?), he's enough to make you think twice about democracy.
07/31/08
A disarming political satire perfectly calibrated to the national mood and to its revitalized star.
07/31/08
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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