Review of Swing Vote (2008) by Anne S — 08 Aug 2009

For as unlikely as the premise may be, Swing Vote could have worked as a sort of Frank Capra style comedy/drama had it only gone deeper than the surface. Costner has played it seems a lot of lovable losers but this one is really stretching the characterization thin. He is such a drunk this time that he can't even keep a job, but we're rooting for him near the end when we see how much worse his daughter would have been with the ex-wife.

For the election, it must not matter which ideology wins, because our character's political opinions never sharpen and the consequences of actual policies are never discussed. It's supposed to be enough that Costner gets serious by the time the movie concludes with a quivering speech that you neither believe nor care about. The movie doesn't answer the main question or doesn't want you to be angry with the Costner's choice, I suppose. At least ending it with a coin flip or something could have been a laugh.