The American President (1995)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writer (WGA):

Aaron Sorkin (written by)

Release Date:

17 November 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Why can't the most powerful man in the world have the one thing he wants most?

Plot:

Comedy-drama about a widowed US president and a lobbyist who fall in love. It's all aboveboard, but "politics is perception" and sparks fly anyway.

Plot Keywords:

Lobbyist | Senator | Love | U.S. President | Politics

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 8 nominations

Cast

Michael Douglas	...	President Andrew Shepherd
Annette Bening	...	Sydney Ellen Wade
Martin Sheen	...	A.J. MacInerney
Michael J. Fox	...	Lewis Rothschild
Anna Deavere Smith	...	Robin McCall
Samantha Mathis	...	Janie Basdin
Shawna Waldron	...	Lucy Shepherd
David Paymer	...	Leon Kodak
Anne Haney	...	Mrs. Chapil
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Senator Bob Rumson
Nina Siemaszko	...	Beth Wade
Wendie Malick	...	Susan Sloan
Beau Billingslea	...	Agent Cooper
Gail Strickland	...	Esther MacInerney
Joshua Malina	...	David

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some strong language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #33993)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

One of the few rare PG-13 movies allowed to keep its PG-13 rating despite the use of the word "fuck" three times (all within 15 minutes of each other), but none used in sexual context.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Virginia Ham scene, the clock behind Sydney's boss changes times between shots

Quotes:

Sydney Ellen Wade: How do you have patience for people who claim they love America, but clearly can't stand Americans?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: David Alan Grier/Silverchair (#21.8)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Viens, Mallika

Excellent comedy/romance/political film!

I'm not usually the kind of person that enjoys a political film, but I found this film to very interesting, very fun and very entertaining. Of course, this film is much more of a comedy/romance film than a political film, but nonetheless there are a great deal of political elements. Some of the political aspects were strange and confusing, but that's just the nature of politics, is it not?

The story is actually rather original (at least I think it is). It's basically about a widower president that decides it's time to move on with his life and pursue other opportunities (if you catch my drift). The story is very well done from start to finish and really has a lot of good things to say about politics, the media, relationships and what not.

All the cast members involved did a fantastic job. I'm not a huge fan of Michael Douglas (not really sure why) but he did a superb job and played a VERY likeable, fun president. Someone that you would really like to know. Martin Sheen also played an extraordinary Chief of Staff for the president and also played a very likeable guy. Michael J. Fox did an excellent job with a role that I didn't expect great things from. Michael deserves a great deal of credit for his role in this film. Annette Bening...WOW! She did a great job with her role and looks better than ever throughout the entire film. I really liked her character, she also played a very warm and likeable character. Samantha Mathis had a somewhat small role in the film, but nonetheless a very important one. She really did a great job with her role and also looks fantastic throughout the film. Finally, Richard Dreyfuss. He also played a very small role, but an extremely important role and did a great job. While he wasn't a very likeable character (he wasn't supposed to be liked), he played it perfectly. Some other great supporting cast members include David Paymer, Anne Haney, Nina Siemaszko, Wendie Malick, and John Mahoney.

I should also mention director Rob Reiner. This guy is just great, he really does a fantastic job directing his films. This is another great film to add to his already impressive list of credits.

I would definitely recommend this film to anyone that likes light-hearted comedies and/or just romantic comedies. This really is an excellent film and ought to be seen. I hope that you will enjoy the film as much as I did. Thanks for reading,

-Chris