A voting machine error and a close presidential race brings it down to one drunken single father's vote to decide it all. The candidates have ten days to sway his decision.
I don't recall seeing anything about this the election year when it came out,
but it has all the trappings one would expect from a Disney film about civic responsibility. It was surprisingly non-political in its stance, and instead focused on the pandering antics of the two candidates, the public's reaction, and the growth of the main character.
Bud (Costner) is a drunken egg factory worker who is fired on election day due to his own bumbling and his company's "insourcing" policy, where they ship in cheap illegal workers from Mexico (much like today's meat-packing industry). His daughter, desperate to have him vote for her report on the electoral process for school, attempts to vote for him, but the voting machine is unplugged mid-process, and she runs away before the vote is cast. State officials look him up the next day because of the electronic error, and it starts a cascade of events that reveals him to the public, news media, and the candidates.
I won't bore you with the blow-by-blow whorish behavior of the candidates and their dishonesty, but overall it was a cute movie with some definite family drama. Alcoholism is destructive, and while it's semi-glossed over for the family audience, it is addressed honestly where it's addressed. It's also a reasonably honest commentary on the present state of our electoral system, where candidates try hard to please everyone just so they can get in the door and do what they really want to accomplish.
I laughed many, many times during this movie over clever lines, a bit of slapstick, and surprising moments, but not a lot of other counts in this movie. As a movie for crafting, especially with the new elections approaching, I'd say this is a solid choice. I give it a four out of five stars. While I appreciate the family-friendly attempt at educating the young on the importance of every single vote, the Disney veneer was a little cutesy for my taste. I prefer a movie more like "Dave" with Kevin Kline, but this is a good effort.
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