Review of Dave (1993) by Michael T — 26 Jan 2009

There were a lot of president movies in the 1990s. Pretty much all of them portrayed the president as a virtuous champion of the noblest of causes while fighting off those mean Republicans and Conservatives who only had their own welfare in mind. Of course this was Hollywood's effort to make their favorite and only liked Southern boy, Bill Clinton, look good.

Dave is not one of those movies. Kevin Kline is Dave Kovic, a well mannered and honest guy who works to find good people jobs. He bears a striking resemblance to the President of the United States, Bill Mitchell. Actually, they are twins (Kline plays both roles, heh). During a romp with a secretary, the president suffers a brain hemorrhage and Dave is brought in the stand in for Mitchell. Being the good guy he is, he can't help but treat people (including the First Lady played by Sigourney Weaver) better than the real Bill Mitchell did. Sure, it's seriously unrealistic in almost every respect, such as when Dave and the First Lady have a picnic late at night in a DC park. That is unrealistic since the crime rate in DC is one of the highest in the nation and it isn't safe to be out at night! Glaring examples aside, this movie is awesome.