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Welcome to Mooseport (2004)
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Reviews Counted:143
Fresh:19
Rotten:124
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: A bland comedy that squanders a talented cast.
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $14,244,145
Synopsis: The quiet, charming town of Mooseport, Maine is invaded by the former president of the country in this Capraesque comedy starring Ray Romano and Gene Hackman. Monroe "The Eagle" Cole (Gene Hackman)... The quiet, charming town of Mooseport, Maine is invaded by the former president of the country in this Capraesque comedy starring Ray Romano and Gene Hackman. Monroe "The Eagle" Cole (Gene Hackman) is a hugely popular Clinton-era former president, who retires to bucolic Mooseport, Maine after a bitter divorce from his wife (Christine Baranski). Coincidentally, Mooseport is in need of a new mayor and Cole steps in to what he thinks will be a one-man race and a much-needed publicity boost. However, local handyman and plumber Handy Harrison (Ray Romano) has entered the race as well, complicating the no-contest election. Handy is a beloved Mooseport local, well-liked but incapable of committing to his long-time girlfriend Sally Mannis (Maura Tierney). Sally has spent the last seven years waiting for Handy to propose and so, when a smitten Cole asks her out on a dinner date, she eagerly accepts in hopes of making Handy jealous. It works, turning the race into a personal and political rivalry as Handy fights not only the mayorship but also to regain Sally's heart. Supporting stars include Marcia Gay Harden and Rip Torn as members of Cole's staff, who help to launch a full-scale campaign in the town of less than a thousand people. [More]
Starring: Gene Hackman, Ray Romano, Maura Tierney, Christine Baranski
Starring: Gene Hackman, Ray Romano, Maura Tierney, Christine Baranski, Marcia Gay Harden, Fred Savage, Rip Torn
Director: Donald Petrie
Director: Donald Petrie
Screenwriter: Tom Schulman
Story: Doug Richardson
Producer: Tom Schulman, Basil Iwanyk, Mark Frydman
Composer: John Debny
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Welcome to Mooseport
Whose story is this? Nobody's. We don't know whom we're meant to root for...
This lackluster production fails to generate much in the way of tension and less in the way of merriment.
The movie never takes its material far enough, it's never daring, it's never edgy, it's never satiric. It's just, well, it's just TV.
a pretty enjoyable film and if you’re looking for a distraction from all of the real world politics, at least the laughs in “Mooseport” are intentional.
The script is so weak, so illogical, so bereft of actual humour that it takes the considerable charm of the cast merely to prop it up.
This comedy about politics in a small community must have looked good on paper, with Gene Hackman and Ray Romano on board, but it just fizzles.
Clunkily earthbound as its characters and the situations plod forward while never getting anywhere.
Lord knows we need to laugh about politics, but when it comes to salving our Oval Office wounds, Welcome to Mooseport is like taking a baby aspirin for pneumonia...
Not even accidentally amusing, is dumber than a Lyndon Larouche campaign, and features a love story that can only be described as icky. Make that two love stories, and they're both icky.
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