Review of The American President (1995) by Thomas L — 24 Aug 2008
I read somewhere that director Rob Reiner and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (who created The West Wing soon after this) were allowed to shadow President Clinton for about a week or so, to learn the ins and outs of what made the executive wheels turn.
Boy does it show. On the one hand, like Dave, this film wears its leftist heart on its sleeve. Unlike Dave, this goes much more into the nitty gritty of how the West Wing works, with all the various support staff who buzz around the President twenty-four-seven as if he were a hive of honey.
The point of this film, as Michael Douglas says at the end, is that being President is all about character. That's something that only seems obvious after you've seen all the evidence to support it.
Would the people have elected FDR had they known he was wheelchair bound? It's a valid question. I love how they really played up the President-as-bachelor thing, that on the one hand he's running a country, but on the other he's a lonely guy who just wants a date.
He can't even order flowers without getting in trouble. The filmmakers milked just enough comedy out of that without turning it hackneyed. And special props to Michael J. Fox as Lewis Rothschild. Watching this again made me saddened that his career has been pretty much cut short because of Parkinson's.
He's brilliant here.
This review of The American President (1995) was written by Thomas L on 24 Aug 2008.
The American President has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
