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''Swing Vote'' is a 2008 American
comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film about an entire U.S. presidential election determined by the vote of one man. It was directed by
Joshua Michael Stern Joshua Michael Stern is an American film director and screenwriter. He has directed three feature films: ''Neverwas'' (2005), ''Swing Vote (2008 film), Swing Vote'' (2008) and the 2013 biographical film ''Jobs (film), Jobs'', based on the life of ...
, and stars
Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Costner, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primeti ...
,
Paula Patton Paula Maxine Patton (born December 5, 1975) is an American actress and producer. Patton made her feature film debut in the 2005 comedy '' Hitch'', and has had starring roles in the films ''Déjà Vu'' (2006), '' Precious'' (2009), '' Jumping th ...
,
Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...
,
Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He was considered one of the key figures of New Hollywood. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Internatio ...
,
Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been Nathan Lane on screen and stage, on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Na ...
,
Stanley Tucci Stanley Tucci Jr. ( ; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor. Known as a character actor, he has played a wide variety of roles ranging from menacing to sophisticated, earning numerous accolades, including six Emmy Awards and two Golden ...
,
George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is most known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom '' George Lopez''. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican ...
and Madeline Carroll. The film was released on August 1, 2008.


Plot

Heavy-drinking slacker Ernest "Bud" Johnson lives in a trailer in
Texico, New Mexico Texico is a city in Curry County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 1,130 at the 2010 census. The city is located on the Texas-New Mexico border with the town of Farwell across the border. History The name is a portmanteau of "Tex ...
. His wife, Larissa, left him and his young daughter, Molly, to pursue an ill-fated singing career. Bud is generally late for work and deems elections to be wastes of time. Unlike Bud, Molly cares about politics and urges him to vote in the presidential election, as she registered him as an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
. Bud reluctantly promises to vote, but is fired from his job and gets drunk at the bar instead, forgetting his promise to Molly. When he sees Molly being interviewed about the election by television journalist Kate Madison, Bud remembers and attempts to drive to the polling station. However, he passes out drunk in his truck before he can leave the parking lot. Frustrated, Molly decides to secretly vote on his behalf. Before she can select a candidate, the voting machine malfunctions, leaving the ballot inside. Molly takes the stub and leaves to avoid getting caught, driving Bud home. She tells Bud that she wants to live with Larissa, to no avail. However, the election cannot be called for either candidate: the incumbent Republican, Andrew Carington Boone, and the opposing
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
, Donald Greenleaf. The election is too close to call, with the candidates in a tie in both the popular votes and electoral votes. The election is down to whoever wins New Mexico's five electoral votes, but the election there cannot be called for either candidate because Bud's vote was not properly cast. Due to the critical nature of the election and because the state's votes were already recounted, Bud is given no more than ten days to vote for either candidate, breaking the tie in the state's popular vote. Greenleaf's campaign manager, Art Crumb, orders his team to learn everything they can about Bud's interests, hoping to win him over to vote for Greenleaf. Boone's campaign manager, Martin Fox does the same and sends his friend
Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "the King", is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most nota ...
to drive Bud and Molly to
Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modifie ...
for a personal meeting with President Boone. Returning home from that meeting, Bud sees an ad from a friend of Greenleaf,
Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...
, a celebrity Bud admires. The ad personally invites Bud to a party thrown by Crumb and Greenleaf, designed specifically around Bud's interests. Greenleaf's campaign even arranged for one of Bud's old bandmates to be paroled so they could do another musical performance. Molly is sickened by the posturing on both sides. Kate is urged by her boss John Sweeney to get an exclusive interview with Bud. As a result of this interview, Bud's actual opinions (or lack thereof) are misinterpreted by the media, causing the candidates to flip-flop on several positions. Greenleaf ignoring his principles to win results in his wife leaving him, to which Crumb is unsympathetic. Both continue to pander to Bud, but gradually move away from the cynical tactics forced on them by their advisers. Boone ignores Fox's plan to offer Bud a lobbying job as a
bribe Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...
, and Greenleaf reconciles with his wife. However, Bud only alienates Molly further by forgetting about "Bring Your Dad to Work Day" at her school. Molly, tired of Bud's neglect, has a friend drive her to Larissa's home so she can live there instead. However, Larissa, who is actually addicted to prescription drugs, lashes out at Molly for coming over. Bud, deducing what happened, arrives and comforts Molly, who calls him "dad" for the first time. Bud takes her back to their home amid a flurry of journalists. The experience serves as a wake-up call for Bud, who stops drinking and starts working with Kate and Molly to understand the issues of the election and make the right choice. Bud reads through his mail from the American public, urging him to vote for the issues that matter. The two candidates hold a debate with Bud serving as the moderator, asking questions from the letters he received. In a written speech, he confesses his regrets about knowing little-to-nothing about politics, or for that matter, life. The next morning, Bud casts his vote as Molly watches with a smile.


Cast


As themselves


Production

''Swing Vote'' was shot primarily in
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...
and
Belen, New Mexico Belén (; ) is the second most populated city in Valencia County, New Mexico, the United States, after its county seat, Los Lunas. The population was 7,360 as of the 2020 Census. Belén is Spanish for Bethlehem. It gained the nickname "Hub Ci ...
. Although not intended as a political statement on the then-upcoming presidential elections, when Kevin Costner found he could not get the financing he wanted for ''Swing Vote'' to get it into theaters in time for the 2008 presidential election, he bankrolled it himself. Joshua Michael Stern, who directed and co-wrote the script with Jason Richman, had earlier precedents to follow. The premise of the film is similar to an
Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ;  – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...
story " Franchise", in which elections have evolved until the entire decision is based on one man chosen by Multivac. The premise of
Garson Kanin Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999) was an American writer and director of plays and films. Early life Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his Jewish family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City. He at ...
’s 1939 movie ''
The Great Man Votes ''The Great Man Votes'' is a 1939 American drama film starring John Barrymore as a widowed professor turned drunkard who has the deciding vote in an election for mayor. It was based on the short story of the same name by Gordon Malherbe Hillman ...
'' is also very similar to ''Swing Vote''. A 1966 episode of the TV series ''
F Troop ''F Troop'' is a satirical American television Western sitcom about U.S. soldiers and American Indians in the Wild West during the 1860s. The series originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 ...
'', "The Ballot of Corporal Agarn", uses the same basic storyline.


Reception


Critical response

The film received mostly negative reviews by critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 38% based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite Kevin Costner providing his most charismatic performance in years, ''Swing Vote'' fails to find the right mix of political satire and heartfelt drama." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Reaction from critics centered on Costner's performance. One characterized it as "unsentimental", but handled "with such ease and conviction" that it anchors the film.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
noted that in building the premise, "the movie makes a plucky stab at explaining how it comes to happen – and it almost sounds plausible." He gave it three stars, saying that a "mix of comedy and drama is winning; Costner couldn't be better, and the little girl is a find."
Mick LaSalle Mick LaSalle (born May 7, 1959) is an American film critic and the author of two books on pre-Code Hollywood. Up to March 2008, he had written more than 1,550 reviews for the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' and he has been podcasting them since Sep ...
of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' also gave it favorable reviews.
Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...
was quoted as saying, "Not a bad movie, probably OK to rent on DVD, but I'm saying don't rush to the theaters." ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' of the UK ranked ''Swing Vote'' no. 14 on its list of the 100 Worst Films of 2008.


Box office

The film grossed $16,289,867 domestically and $1,344,446 overseas totaling $17,634,313 worldwide. On its opening weekend, the film grossed $6,230,669, placing it #6. After release, Dennis Hopper said that his role was significantly reduced. Hopper told the ''
New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'', "My haracter'ssubplot was completely cut. There's a scene we shot where I ditch all my events to go support a young Mexican waitress at the funeral of her grandfather. It was chopped. It was important to the development of my character, and it's missing."


Lawsuit

Bradley Blakeman, a former deputy assistant for appointments and scheduling to President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
, filed a lawsuit on August 7, 2008, stating that he gave Kelsey Grammer a copyrighted screenplay titled ''Go November'' in 2006. The lawsuit, filed at the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...
in
Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, was against Grammer, Kevin Costner (co-financier),
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
(owner of the film rights), Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group Inc. (production company), and
Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...
(distributor), and claims that the plot and marketing elements of ''Swing Vote'' were stolen from him. The case was eventually settled for after the judge dismissed his other claims against Costner and Disney.


Home media

The film was released by
Touchstone Home Entertainment Touchstone may refer to: * Touchstone (assaying tool), a stone used to identify precious metals * Touchstone (metaphor), a means of assaying relative merits of a concept Entertainment * ''Touchstone'' (album), a 1982 album by Chick Corea * To ...
on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on January 13, 2009.


References


External links

*
''Swing Vote''
review on
PinkNews ''PinkNews'' is a UK-based online newspaper marketed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community (LGBTQ+) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded by Benjamin Cohen in July 2005, initially released in print, b ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swing Vote 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s political comedy-drama films 2000s political satire films 2008 films American political comedy-drama films American political satire films English-language comedy-drama films Films about presidential elections Films directed by Joshua Michael Stern Films involved in plagiarism controversies Films scored by John Debney Films set in New Mexico Films shot in New Mexico Touchstone Pictures films