Swing Vote - A Movie Review

What do you mean there was a tie in the presidential election?

Swing Vote was released to theaters in 2008. Election day is here. Trying to convince her father that he needs to vote, Bud does not believe in it. Trying to put in his vote for him an incident occurs which results in a tie in the presidential election for the first time in history.

In order to distract myself from the anxieties of election week, I decided to watch Swing Vote. It has been a while since I have watched this film but it still reflects on relevant morals. Swing Vote reinforces the value of being true to yourself and the importance to vote.

Bud Johnson is not a perfect human being. He tries to be better for the sake of his daughter. Kevin Costner did a great job with his range of emotions, but at times his character became repetitive. Believing that this is the best opportunity to get what he’s always wanted through attention, he learns how wrong he is.

The best character in the whole movie was Molly. For a girl so young, she has many duties. Madeline Carroll was superb. Molly is intelligent, stands her ground, and was very responsible. Molly is a motivational leader to all kids of her age. Anybody can do anything that they set their minds to no matter the age.

The relationship between Bud and Molly was the core of the film. Their father-daughter relationship made me smile or frown. Having gone through dark moments, arguments, and broken promises they still love each other. That’s one of the best key moments of the film.

Swing Vote incorporates a variety of well-known actors. I was very happy to learn that Paula Patton was in this film after seeing her strong performance in Precious. Other credits to include are Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, Stanley Tucci, George Lopez, Judge Reinhold, and a couple of surprising faces.

I have always had mixed feelings for the two president elects at battle to seek a vote from Bud. We don’t get to know them, other than what they want to do as president. Each tries to win over Bud by having him meet his dream celebrity or enjoying a beer. Now that I think about it that may have been the point.

It could have been a shorter film instead of repeating sequences or character actions. There were also a couple of characters that I did not find necessary for the film. One character could have been expanded more or not be included at all.

Storywise, the film is repetitive in the middle half. We get that Bud is not a responsible person. And we also understand that the president elects are doing everything in their power to get this one vote that they need to win. We don’t need constant scenes of this which eventually loses audiences’ attention.

Joshua Michael Stern created this film for audiences to understand how important it is to vote. Your opinion matters. While he did an outstanding job with the layout of characters, the story could have been better. The ending of Swing Vote dons what the story is about.

Attention either affects you negatively or positively. As described perfectly in the film, sometimes we forget about ourselves. Politics is one of the most crucial subjects. Every day we learn. We change. Change is important.

Swing Vote is a heartwarming film to learn about voting regulations. Give it a chance even if you are not a political person. I recommend that you find it and watch it.