Swing Vote
Swing Vote solidifies Kevin Kostner as the new go-to-guy for the personification of rumpled. Here he’s known as Bud to everyone including his child. He’s a middle aged slacker and single father to Molly (the endearing Madeline Carroll who has an impressive resume for a 12 year old) in an arid small town with the unlikely name of Texaco New Mexico. The pre teen Molly is the Hollywood cliché child effectively raising the parent but her shenanigans in a razor close Presidential race leaves Bud as the only elector uncounted after a nation wide tie vote. The election slate is refreshingly dufus free - but not so with the lone remaining franchisee. In the few days before casting the winning ballot he’s caught up in a media feeding frenzy while being courted by a comedicly statesmanlike Kelsey Grammar typecast as the Republican President and his Democratic opponent played by Dennis Hopper. Each candidate has a handler who will stop at nothing to assure victory which leaves them pandering to nuances in remarks uttered by Bud as he’s lead on by the manipulative media to the point where each party leader is posturing contrary to his cherished ideals. Swing Vote has a great soundtrack that makes you feel the bumps and smell the dust of a border town back road. It’s an often smartly satirical condemnation of apathy and the US electoral system however it glosses over the fact that the leader of the free world is elected as the result of a deception making it ironic that the end result is an acceptance of what outrageously flawed the real election of 2002.