Kevin Costner: A Beer-Swilling Everyman

by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith / August 2008

"Swing Vote,' starring Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammar, Dennis Hopper, and Madeline Carroll. Directed by Joshua Michael Stern; written by Jason Richman and Joshua Michael Stern.

Living in this democratic country (as we’re led to believe), we are constantly told by our so-called leaders, "Every vote counts!" And Kevin Costner’s latest film, the comedy "Swing Vote," would have you believe it. The film is a fantasy about a presidential election.

The two candidates: Andrew Boone ("Call me Andy"), the incumbent, conservative Republican, believably played by Kelsey Grammer, and his Democratic contender, Don Greenleaf (Dennis Hopper, who has undergone a dramatic career change since his "Easy Rider" and "Blue Velvet" days, even making a TV commercial for an investment firm).

Both men are after Costner’s vote and do everything in their power to get it, even changing their platforms based on Bud‘s off-handed comments.

The Republican, Boone, changes into a pro-choice, pro-LBTG, and pro-environment liberal. Meanwhile, the Democrat, Greenleaf—who early on gives a campaign speech about the White House becoming the Rainbow House and America having become complacent about bondage and slavery—changes into a pro-life, anti-environment, anti-gay conservative.

Kevin Costner plays Bud, like the popular brew, a bottle of which Costner is often seen holding with its label unashamedly facing the camera. He gives a performance in the unflattering role of a beer-oholic first and a single dad second.

Bud and his precocious, prepubescent daughter, Molly, played by the extraordinarily talented Madeline Carroll, live in a double-wide in Texico, a small town on New Mexico‘s border. Because he was caught drinking at work, Bud is fired from the egg-factory job he had barely been able to hang on to.

As in many such households where one or both parents are out of it because of drugs or mental problems or both, Molly runs the house, gets Dad up every morning, and makes breakfast. She does everything but drive herself to school.

The film opens on election day. In the pickup truck (of course), on the way to school, she reminds him of the importance of voting. He promises to meet her at the polls after school. Bud vaguely remembers registering but just doesn‘t give a fat rat‘s ass.

The whys and hows of Bud’s becoming the deciding swing-voter hinges on Molly’s crafty, clandestine, felonious action. Before he knows it, the entire broadcast media, from Fox to BBC—with their floodlights, loudspeakers, reporters, mikes, and booms—are camped outside his door. Both contenders court him shamelessly; real-life pundits like Larry King, Chris Matthews, and Ariana Huffington, speculate like crazy: Why and who will Bud cast his vote for? He has 10 days to decide.

Both campaign managers, played artfully by Nathan Lane, Democrat, and Stanley Tucci, Republican, are nothing more than annoying salesmen, as are Boone and Greenleaf, trying to sell Bud some unnecessary product, like the latest ball-model vacuum cleaner.

They do their homework, discovering each and every detail of his life, his likes and dislikes, to win him over. But somehow, they missed that Bud’s ex-wife, who pops up for a few minutes late in the film, is a messed-up drug abuser; so you get why custody of their child falls to Bud.

Boone and Greenleaf speechify, backed by their platform supporters: e.g. Planned Parenthood and ACLU banners wave for Greenleaf at huckster tables.

Molly sees through the hype. She has a great line when Nathan Hale peers down into her face, calling her a very smart little girl and adding, "You might have a future in politics." Molly monotones, "So might you."

Costner is an executive producer of "Swing Vote." To his credit, he unfailingly casts people of color in significant roles in all his productions. In this film, comic George Lopez has a lot of screen time as the frazzled head of the area’s TV station; Paula Patton has a lead role as Lopez’s top reporter and Bud’s potential love interest. Native Americans and Hispanics have been cast as reporters, camera operators, and extras.

If the events leading up to and including voting day do anything for Bud, they somehow—magically, unbelievably, overnight—turn him into a responsible, suit-wearing, knowledgeable, articulate, and sober voter.

The fact that both candidates pander to the base and switch sides gives us an unwitting insight into the U.S. political process, emphasizing the sameness and opportunism of both parties, and revealing that the very concept of America’s two-party system is a farce. (As is this highly entertaining, fluff-piece of a quasi-political film.)