Political Satire In Swing Vote

„One American citizen will effectively choose the next President“ - the scenario in which the main characters, alcoholic unemployed factor worker Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner) and his bright and idealistic daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll), find themselves in in Joshua Michael Stern's new movie is at first difficult to accept. If one is able to look past this, „Swing Vote“ delivers some satirical moments as well as heartwarming scenes – though it can't really decide if it's aiming to be a family drama or a political satire.

On Election Day, Molly, who is playing the part of her father's child, wife, and mother simultaneously, begs her father to fulfill his „civic duty“ and vote. He, on the other hand, is opposed to voting in general, on the conviction that his vote would not make any difference anyways. In the end he agrees to do his daughter, who is way more politically informed than he himself is, a favor, though that intention ends up in him spending the evening passed out in his car after …show more content…
This is accompanied by the movie's attempt in criticising the media's crooked ways in a desperate search for the next big hit, aiding politicans in delivering messages the public and voters want to hear and devaluing real issues. Sadly, the movie fails in bringing that message across in a satirical, convincive manner, as it awkwardly tries to be a political satire and family comedy at once. The bounce between those two genres seem ill-suited, sacrificing a lot of the movie's potential. Even the two most cynical moments of the movie, when the Republican starts supporting gay marriage and the Democrat advertises for abortion, seem out of place, belonging into a movie that was sharper than „Swing