'Swing Vote' Hangs Not on Chads but Down-and-Out Dad

It sounds stupid, sure. You saw the trailer before "Mamma Mia!" or whatever and groaned. Kevin Costner, you thought, what have you wrought upon us now? In "Swing Vote," one guy -- a guy named Bud who likes to drink Bud, no less -- gets to decide the outcome of a presidential election. He doesn't know or care about politics, but the candidates stoop to new lows to court him. Bud, oblivious and unshaven, laughs merrily through it all. It's meant to take place in the future, but thematically it's actually a tired throwback to 2000, when the entire nation held its breath over a handful of ballots.

The movie asks its audience to suspend disbelief on one thing -- its entire premise. Indeed. But if you're willing to jump that logistical hurdle, you're home free. The ridiculous setup is just the skeleton for something more substantial; the flesh of the movie is made of the funny, tender interactions between Bud and his daughter, Molly.

In Texaco, N.M., the colors are faded, dust hangs in the air. Times are hard, and Ernest "Bud" Johnson (Costner) has just lost his job at a poultry processing plant. Everyone drives a big truck.

Molly (Madeline Carroll) has made Bud promise to vote, but he gets drunk and passes out in his truck instead. Molly isn't a sweet-cheeked little girl like Abigail Breslin's Olive Hoover in "Little Miss Sunshine" -- this chick is tough, smart and capable -- so it's all the more tragic when we see her angry tears as she waits for Bud at the voting hall. And that's what makes us watch, this undercurrent of sadness in what's meant to be a comedy.

Bud, so used to being a nobody, gets caught up in the attention paid to him by the two candidates, Democrat Donald Greenleaf (an unmemorable Dennis Hopper) and Republican President Andrew Boone (Kelsey Grammer, who still can't manage to be funny without being neurotic). Bud is so blinded by his celebrity and the camera flashes of a million media outlets waiting outside his trailer that he forgets that he is the voice of the people, he forgets his responsibility as The Decider in the destiny of America, and he forgets about "Bring Your Dad to Work Day" at Molly's school. This last gaffe is the tipping point, as he realizes how negligent he's been. In the end, it's Molly's idealism that saves him. Under her tutelage, he starts to focus on the issues, starts to press the candidates for answers. (No actual answers are offered.)

Does the presidential election as backdrop provide any political commentary? Alas, no. There is mockery of the candidates' flip-flopping on the issues and there are soulless, scheming campaign chiefs (played by Nathan Lane, curmudgeonly as always, and a delightful Stanley Tucci). But the thing is such light summer fare that even its core message -- every vote counts -- is too retro to matter much. You want to say to director Joshua Michael Stern, "Come on, man! It's 2008! Americans have been flocking to register to vote, and lining up for primaries and rallies." These days, even in the smallest towns, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who would ask, as Bud does, "Who's running again?"

The subplots are easily dismissed. There's a television reporter (Paula Patton) who takes the high road by helping Bud and Molly rather than exposing their secret in exchange for a big career fast-forward. Whatever. And there are the townsfolk of Texaco, New Mexico, (this rhyme will, of course, be a running joke) who ostracize Bud because he hasn't used his fame to try to effect change.

Though it manages to avoid the one-liners and cheap gags that political comedies of the past ("Head of State," "Man of the Year") have relied on, Costner still lays it on thick, flailing and grunting in his role as a dumb, drunk redneck. There are also some racist riffs on Mexican immigrants.

Bud becomes a political pundit overnight (yes, literally, by studying flashcards), and we're meant to take his transformation as some sort of panacea. The larger issues that the movie tosses out there -- poverty, immigration, health insurance -- are swept under the carpet by one of Bud's goofy grins.

Oh, and the ending bites.

So what can we say? The film's not nearly as idiotic as its trailer made it seem, because it's not really about voting, or politics. It's actually about a girl and her dad, and loving your family no matter how drunk and asinine they may be.

Swing Vote (119 minutes, at area theaters) is rated PG-13 for strong language.