Dave
1993 Directed by Ivan Reitman
Synopsis
In a country where anybody can become President, anybody just did.
Bill Mitchell is the philandering and distant President of the United States. Dave Kovic is a sweet-natured and caring Temp Agency operator, who by a staggering coincidence looks exactly like the President. As such, when Mitchell wants to escape an official luncheon, the Secret Service hires Dave to stand in for him. Unfortunately, Mitchell suffers a severe stroke whilst having sex with one of his aides, and Dave finds himself stuck in the role indefinitely. The corrupt and manipulative Chief of Staff, Bob Alexander, plans to use Dave to elevate himself to the White House - but unfortunately, he doesn't count on Dave enjoying himself in office, using his luck to make the country a better place, and falling in love with the beautiful First Lady...
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Murray Blum: «If I ran my business like this, I would be out of business.»
This film really could be ripped to pieces by anyone who could be bothered, myself included. It depends a bit on the mood you're in right? But nothing can make me not love this.
Stand-ins and lookalikes for U.S. Presidents are nothing new (not even in newer films, check out Vantage Point), but hey, you really couldn't fool anyone up close.
And, actually, Dave (Kline) doesn't either. Not surprisingly it's The First Lady (Weaver) who gets a revelation of something not all that familiar. But, before that - this is what happens. President Mitchell's staff is looking for a stand-in for the President to cover… -
Archetypal everyman Dave (Kevin Kline) bears a remarkable resemblance to the President (Kevin Kline). So when the big man suffers a massive stroke, his political adviser Frank Langella spies an opportunity to seize power, placing Dave in the Oval Office. All goes to plan until our hero meets the idealistic, long-neglected First Lady (a short-haired Sigourney Weaver), and begins to impose his authority. Considering it's a comedy-drama that isn't funny, Dave is very appealing, with a familiar universe that's fun to play in - and ripe for wish-fulfilment - and a strong second half that happily takes a few chances: at first Dave is just in favour of homeless children, it's only later that he announces the largest job creation…
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Watched as part of my campaign to watch every Arnie film.
Until I sat down to do the Arnieathon I'd completely forgotten about his cameo in Dave. He appears in one scene at a press op with "President" Dave discussing nutrition in food with primary school kids. Kevin Kline has fun with it. The movie is a tidy little comedy from Ivan Reitman. Nothing spectacular but a solid performance from Kline and Sigourney Weaver.
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That most characters in this film are 100% good or evil—no moral ambiguity here—doesn’t stop the film from being an enjoyable, escapist presidential tale.
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The plot centers around the oft told look alike takes over others life for a while, but here, after what is spun as a "minor circulatory problem of the head," Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) is asked to fill in for President Bill Mitchell (Kevin Kline), a double dealing adulterer who suffers a stroke whilst banging White House staffer laura Linney.
In the process of "doing his country a great service" in the "interests of National Security," Dave unwittingly at first, and then deliberately sets out to change public and private perception of the Pres, pissing off the malelovent Frank langella's Chief of Staff along the way.
Implausible for sure, but charming non the less. Kline is on top form pulling double duty, and first lady Sigourney Weaver lends solid support as she slowly realises that things aren't what they seem- especially in the presidents "downstairs department."
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I re-watched this for a future '90s column, and it's way less shrewd, funny, and substantial than I remembered. I'm not normally a stickler for realism, especially with a farce like this, but I do care if there are legitimate questions about characters' motivations. The movie never really convinced me that I should care about Dave as a person, rather than just observe him as a pawn in a political tug-of-war. But the ending is clever I guess.
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Watched as part of my campaign to watch every Arnie film.
Until I sat down to do the Arnieathon I'd completely forgotten about his cameo in Dave. He appears in one scene at a press op with "President" Dave discussing nutrition in food with primary school kids. Kevin Kline has fun with it. The movie is a tidy little comedy from Ivan Reitman. Nothing spectacular but a solid performance from Kline and Sigourney Weaver.
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Murray Blum: «If I ran my business like this, I would be out of business.»
This film really could be ripped to pieces by anyone who could be bothered, myself included. It depends a bit on the mood you're in right? But nothing can make me not love this.
Stand-ins and lookalikes for U.S. Presidents are nothing new (not even in newer films, check out Vantage Point), but hey, you really couldn't fool anyone up close.
And, actually, Dave (Kline) doesn't either. Not surprisingly it's The First Lady (Weaver) who gets a revelation of something not all that familiar. But, before that - this is what happens. President Mitchell's staff is looking for a stand-in for the President to cover… -
This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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We (okay, I) throw the term Kapraesque around far too little. I'd like to see the terminally positive and peppy (and thereby suited almost tightly for my needs) Dave remade in the 1940s by Frank Capra. In usual me fashion, I'm at complete odds with whether I can swallow such dumbed down political humor or whether the crux of things - an everyman impersonating the President and using his elbow grease idealism to do a helluva better job - is plenty to satiate me. Given the grade, I'm sure you can guess which end I chose to entertain (no pun intended); I'm also a sucker for anything that takes place in Washington, D.C. - no matter how popular or generic it turns out to be (although I still love the ending, despite the excess saccharine).
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That most characters in this film are 100% good or evil—no moral ambiguity here—doesn’t stop the film from being an enjoyable, escapist presidential tale.
-
Archetypal everyman Dave (Kevin Kline) bears a remarkable resemblance to the President (Kevin Kline). So when the big man suffers a massive stroke, his political adviser Frank Langella spies an opportunity to seize power, placing Dave in the Oval Office. All goes to plan until our hero meets the idealistic, long-neglected First Lady (a short-haired Sigourney Weaver), and begins to impose his authority. Considering it's a comedy-drama that isn't funny, Dave is very appealing, with a familiar universe that's fun to play in - and ripe for wish-fulfilment - and a strong second half that happily takes a few chances: at first Dave is just in favour of homeless children, it's only later that he announces the largest job creation…
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Always a nice movie to come back to...very Capra-esque in moments and Kline is always great---and Langella is always a surefire baddie.
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The plot centers around the oft told look alike takes over others life for a while, but here, after what is spun as a "minor circulatory problem of the head," Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) is asked to fill in for President Bill Mitchell (Kevin Kline), a double dealing adulterer who suffers a stroke whilst banging White House staffer laura Linney.
In the process of "doing his country a great service" in the "interests of National Security," Dave unwittingly at first, and then deliberately sets out to change public and private perception of the Pres, pissing off the malelovent Frank langella's Chief of Staff along the way.
Implausible for sure, but charming non the less. Kline is on top form pulling double duty, and first lady Sigourney Weaver lends solid support as she slowly realises that things aren't what they seem- especially in the presidents "downstairs department."