I will admit without shame that Kevin Costner is one of my favorite talents working in film. His short list of directed films are treasures in my dvd collection and although his underappreciated and misunderstood The Postman was a critical and box-office flop, it serves as a subtle commentary on contemporary American values and patriotism. In a large way, Swing Vote is too, although I would argue that it is far more subtle than his film.
While Costner didn't direct this film, he served as producer and also stars as Bud Johnson, a single father struggling with an alcohol problem while struggling (due to the alcohol) to raise his eleven year-old daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll), who is mature and wise far beyond her years. As the opening scenes suggest, Molly is more raising him than vice versa. It is an important fact that she has never met her mother yet is so gracefully grown up at such a tender age; we suspect maybe Bud has something to do with that. He certainly doesn't show much in the way of responsibility hismelf; he gets canned within the film's first ten minutes for being intoxicated and knocking over a large stack of eggs at the factory where he works. One ponders, being as that it's an egg inspection factory, is it really efficient to stack the eggs in such large piles? That detail aside, the scene works as a funny, yet poignantly pathetic moment for Bud.
The performance by Costner is new territory for him. He's certainly played softies before, but here is playing a man who's softy is hidden under a drunk. This is a family film, to be sure, so much of the sadness of his drinking will be hidden from the younger audience and very visable to adults. This says more for the performance I think, than the tone of the film, which stays heavily in family territory. That is a good thing, because the dramatic version of this film might not see Bud Johnson triumph over his addiction with his love for Molly, but as Molly well knows, and as we well know, of course he will.
The plot concerns the importance of voting, as illustrated early in the film by young Molly in a classroom speech that is delivered better than any I've heard by a politician. Voting is so important to her in fact, that she implores her father to be at the polls after work, where she will be waiting with excitement. Remember, however that he was fired and because of a drinking binge, passes out and misses the date. Molly is so upset that she uses her wits to make it appear as though Bud was there but that his vote wasn't counted. The plausibility of this scenario playing out is zilch, but the movie shows it with enough enthusiasm to pass it off. The chain of events that follow cause the 5 electoral votes from New Mexico (where the film takes place) to hinder on the one un-counted vote from Bud Johnson. He is given an appointment to re-cast his vote in ten days, and this starts the plot moving.
The two candidates travel to the small town, with their campaign managers in tow. The republican President, played by Kelsey Grammer, is up for re-election, and is challenged by a democrat, played by Dennis Hopper. The managers are Stanley Tucci and Nathan Lane, repsectively. To try and get Bud Johnson's "swing-vote", each of the candidates employ their own techniques. The Grammer charcter wants to appeal to Johnson's interests by offering him comforts and even a job. The democrat's manager all but forces the Hopper character to change his campaign platforms to fit Bud's beliefs. The ad-campaigns that this technique spawns are the funniest moments of the film, as when an anti-abortion ad shows children on a playground popping into clouds of dust while Hopper delivers an energetic speech. One of the remarkable aspects of the film is that aside from the necessary cliched ads, it stays away from major partisan issues, because those aren't the issues here.
The film "introduces" Madeline Carroll, yet IMDB.com shows a longer resume. Hopefully it gets longer, because this film gives her an opportunity to go through every emotion a girl of her age could go through, and she nails them all. She will certainly be a young actress to watch with enthusiasm. My favorite character, however, would have to be Stanley Tucci as the President's moral voice. His logic and decisions serve as a stand-in, I believe, for much of the audience's beliefs. This is a film that knows people will want to view it with partisanship in mind, yet that is to miss the major message, which is given triumphantly, but not heavy-handed by Costner's final speech. When he does step into the booth to vote at the end of the film, the music cues an apprehension that has been building since the middle section of the film: who will he vote for? The answer will not please everyone. For those who feel let down by the film's vote, well, those are the people who missed the point.
