Dave

Rating:
Summary: Fun, but...
Review: I like Kevin Kline very much, but his performance in Dave is not as hilarious as other comedy movies such as "A fish called Wanda", "In & Out", "French Kiss", etc. As always with Ivan Reitman's movie, it is well-edited.

Rating:
Summary: O U T S T A N D I N G ! !
Review: Smooth, seamless direction, believable character development, humour and pathos. Taps into our fascination with the Presidency with warmth and real heart appeal. Once the final currtain dropped I found I was sorry to say goodby to these characters. Good to see Frank Langela. We do not see enough of this talent.

Rating:
Summary: It is a great comedy.
Review: This movie let's you leave the theater feeling good. The acting is superb and the story line is great. Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver are perfect together. And with a supporting cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, and Laura Linny. It's a win- win situation.

Rating:
Summary: Newton captures the essence of "Dave"
Review: From the light hearted opening of the film, to the "fog scene", James Howard Newton has captured in sound the spirit of "Dave", the imposter who takes the place of the ailing President.

The opening score, a light and easy piece, tells us about "Dave", a person who loves life, and refuses to take anything too seriously, amidst the heaviness of D.C. politics. We can hear the conflict of "Dave" versus the marble monolith.

Most movies provide sound, or background music, to fill in the gaps. Not this time! Througout the film, the musical score takes on the role of a supporting actor, defining the scene.

The "fog scene" piece is more of a classical work, delivering the full emotion of the scene. I rewound the film, and watched the scene over, without sound. It is the music that is the scene, and "Dave" walking away becomes at that point a supporting actor.

There is a familiarity to the score as a whole, that while an original work, seems to remind me of other classics. I can only loosely compare the score to the works of the Moody Blues, songs designed to resonate with our souls. If you are looking for an anthem to take you into the next century, it will be found on the sound track of "Dave".

Rating:
Summary: GOOD DEMOCRATS, BAD REPUBLICANS, SAME OLD STORY
Review: The film "Dave" went through a script change. The story of a Presidential look-alike (Kevin Kline) who fills in for the secretly deceased real thing, the original story featured a Republican who brought his skills as a small entrepreneur to the job. Hollywood turned him into a Democrat, but kept his G.O.P common sense, such as when he and his partner look at the Federal budget and balance it by using the methods any small businessman would use. Naturally, pet liberal projects are all interjected while "Republican priorities" are given the heave-ho. You can search far and wide, and you will not find Hollywood films that openly portray a Democrat as the bad guy. I wrote a screenplay a few years ago called "A Murderous Campaign". It had all the elements of a great script. A beautiful porn star has an affair with a Democrat Louisiana Senator. She overhears him plotting the assassination of a political rival, but they find out she heard the plan. They try to kill her, so she goes into hiding and hooks up with a crusty old Washington reporter who is considered kooky because he has been accusing this Democrat of these crimes for years. A retired FBI friend of the reporter helps them. The Democrat announces a Presidential bid. The porn star uses her considerable charms and discovers that the Governor of New Jersey is the assassination target at a Statue of Liberty rally. She saves the Governor, and the plot is revealed, but the Democrat candidate goes into spin control. Nobody can really prove the plan. It looks like he will win the nomination, having weathered the politics of personal destruction. Finally, the porn girl and the reporter find the old father of the Democrat's chief of staff, a former Ku Klux Klansman who wants to get what he knows off his chest before passing from this mortal coil. He tells them about the drug smuggling operation the candidate has been running in the Louisiana Bayou. The reporter's FBI pal arranges a raid. They discover all the "smoking gun" evidence of a series of political murders going back years. The girl is re-united with her family, gets out of the porn business, the reporter wins the Pulitzer, and it is jail time for the Democrat. The end.
Creative execs who loved the verbal pitch when I simply described the Democrat as a "politician," a "candidate" or the "Senator" all passed when they read the part in the script that identifies him as an actual Democrat. Pamela Anderson would be perfect as the porn chick. I could see Denzel Washington as the reporter, and Gary Busey as the Democrat Senator. I was asked if I would change him to a Republican. My answer was that I wanted to maintain the realism of the story. See ya.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Dave
Review: This dvd has some scenes cut from the original movie. For a person who has seen the original, the dvd is a disappointment. I have read about this type of cutting on other dvds. This is the first one I have come across. The movie is great; the cuts are not.

Rating:
Summary: Dave's Not Here!
Review: The film DAVE could be called "Capra-esque" to a point with its optimism and feel good ending. A cross between MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON and THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER the movie is entertaining and fun to watch due to Kevin Kline's performance in a semi-dual role. He's Dave Kovic,a temp agency manager, who is a dead-ringer for the President of the United States, Bill Mitchell. Dave is tapped to take over the presidency when Mitchell suffers a irreversible stroke during an extramarital rendezvous. Dave becomes President "in-body" only becoming a puppet to the the President's Chief of Staff, Bob Alexander (played to villianous perfection by Frank Langella). At first he just follows along but then gets caught up in the "job" when the fine line between pretending and reality gets broken. This is further enhanced when the First Lady, Ellen Mitchell (Sigourney Weaver) comes into the picture. The most hilarious segment is when President "Dave" brings in his accountant buddy Murray (Charles Grodin) to tweak the national budget in order to save some homeless shelters that the First Lady is counting on. What works in this film is the human element bringing plausibility to an absurd premise. Kevin Kline's performance brings to mind a Jimmy Stewart-type performance (hence the reference to Capra-esque and "Mr Smith...") and the support roles are spot-on perfect. Charles Grodin's Murray Blum is small, but it's very effective and funny. Sigourney Weaver is good as always. Kevin Dunn as Alan Reed does a great job as Bob/Langella's co-conspirator who gets a change-of-heart about Dave. Ben Kinglsey as vice-President Nash has a great intimate scene with Dave/Kline. Lastly, Ving Rhames as Duane, the no-nonsense presidential body-guard is excellent ("I'd taken a bullet for you!"). The film is very topical for its day as comments are shown from TONIGHT SHOW host Jay Leno and there is very hilarious segment as Oliver Stone, fresh from making JFK thinks there is a conspiracy and urging Larry King and the public to compare photographs of 'President Mitchell' before and after his "stroke". Overall, a very entertaining film from Ivan (GHOSTBUSTERS) Reitman that works because of great casting and characters and making something seemingly impossibe..believable. The 90's was a great movie era for the "president" movies due to the optimsim of the Clinton administration. A couple more years later, AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT, would be equally successful.

Rating:
Summary: Great comedy movie
Review: I love this movie. Great acting and great plot. I just fell in love with this movie. It must be part of every home's library. I can watch this movie over and over again. Must buy for the price.

Rating:
Summary: Worthy vehicle for Kevin Kline
Review: Kevin Kline shines in his dual roles in this movie. He starts as the cheating, lying, scandelous President who gets caught in a real comprimising postion with a secretary. The President is a real lackey and simpleton.

He also plays an idealistic everyman who runs an employment agency, who just happens to be a dead ringer for the Prez. He is discovered riding a pig for an advertisment at a car dealership. The Secret Service finds him and ask him to play the decoy for the President at a speaking engagement.

While he's being taken back home after playing decoy, there is an "event". The real Prez. is quite literaly "laid" up, and lapses into a serious coma. So they bring in Dave Kovic full time. He brings heart and passion to a cold and austere, drab White House. Who's previous tenant was a vibrant as a slug.

The only people who have any idea at all are the two people who brought in the "backdoor" President. The rest of the nation thinks that the President has made a miraculous recovery. There's a bit with Jay Leno with a monologue, the McLaughlin show has their panel rating the "new" President which reflects their usual views in politics. Eventually Oliver Stone gets wind and calls their bluff on Larry King.

The President visits a homeless center, which the chief of staff eventually cuts, much to the dismay of the President. the chief of staff says that if he can find then money he can keep the damn shelter. This is after the First Lady, wonderfully played by Sigourney Weaver(one of my favorite all time actresses), confront Mr. Kovic in the shower, about the shelter.

This leads the President to call in a friend to help with the budget. He gets the shelter back.

Eventually the First Lady finds out and plays a ruse to expose the Pres. in the private quarters in the White House. They escape and have a nice talk. The new President comes back and makes more changes.

The rest is up to you. Great movie. One of the best movies on the U.S Presidents ever done. I think all the stars acted well, and it was very well written.

There are cameo scenes with dozens of Congressmen, reporterts, and others including Tipp O'Neil, Senator Paul Simon, Oliver Stone, Larry King, and countless others.

Rating:
Summary: WISHFUL BUT DELIGHTFUL GAMBOL THROUGH THE WHITE HOUSE
Review: There's something about Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver, the same quiet but pensive chemistry that layered "Ordinary People". Far as I am concerned that's reason enough to recommend this obviously implausible but ponderous jump through far-fetched political hoops.

The premise is so loose it dangles -- an incumbent US president becomes terminally ailed (hints of satire in how that happens) only to be temporarily faux-replaced with a lookalike, who in turn develops a conscience but effortlessly fools the entire coterie of house helpers, senate and the public at large.

Some characters such as a certain malicious minister and his crony are so cardboard you could punch right through them, which is indeed what you end up wishing you could do. There's even a cameo by Ben Kingsley, ever the confident propreitor of the moment, as the wrongly accused vice president.

Yet, it must be the magnetic screen presence of Kline with his comic chips firmly in place or some fairly resonating dialogue that overcomes the highly porous plotline. I delayed sleep in the wee hours to sit through these proceedings with rapt attention, and the denouement is very rewarding as it wraps everything up in 'correct' ribbons.

Political conscience and subdued romance when smoothly blended and lightly stirred make for a very refreshing drink. To this charming social fable that celebrates common man's idealism I say: Slurp.