“Swing Vote”, which came out in August, gives us a look at what could have happened in this past November’s presidential election. The movie provides an interesting and funny look at what would happen if it came down to one person to decide the next President of the United States.
Kevin Costner plays Bud Johnson who, by accident, is chosen to break the tie between the two candidates: the current President (played by Kelsey Grammer) and the challenger (played by Dennis Hopper). Bud doesn’t know or care much about politics but his 12-year old daughter (played nicely by newcomer Madeline Carroll) does. And she (and we) get to witness how both candidates try to win her father’s vote.
“Swing Vote” is a comedy, but it also has some serious moments, especially toward the end when everyone has to decide just how far they will go to win. The movie has a fantastic cast and some great acting. And it does teach a little about the American political system, even though we will probably never have an election come down to one vote.
“Swing Vote” is rated PG-13 because of a lot of bad language. Younger kids probably wouldn’t enjoy it anyway, but older kids who may be into politics will.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Swing Vote” gets a B!
Even though it’s a “smaller” film, with no special effects, stunts or explosions, it’s still worth seeing.
Lights Camera Jackson (a.k.a. Jackson Murphy) began his career as a film critic/entertainment reporter in 2006 at the age of 7. Jackson has written nearly 1,000 reviews of new releases. All together he has seen more than 1,500 films. In 2010, Jackson became the youngest person to win a NY Emmy Award, for his on-air movie reviews on Time Warner TV station, Capital News 9.
LCJ appears every Friday morning on WGNA-FM . His movie reviews are also posted on his website, his YouTube channel and the popular website Cultjer.com. He is also a contributing writer for Jerry Beck’s AnimationScoop.com. Jackson hosts the weekly internet pop culture news show “LCJ LIVE” (every Sunday at Noon ET). And “The LCJ Q&A Podcast” features interviews with celebrities and filmmakers.