Amazon.com
Picture James Carville and Mary Matalin dropped into a screwball comedy. Michael Keaton and Geena Davis are political speechwriters with bad cases of insomnia who meet cute, fall in love, and then discover that they are working for opposing candidates. The subsequent short-lived war of dirty tricks and one-upmanship is one of those contrivances that is soon (and thankfully) discarded in light of their instant rapport and mutual respect. In a world where candidates are for sale and campaigns are fought like poker games, these idealists are made for each other--they just don't know it yet. Director Ron Underwood (
City Slickers) has a light touch with comedy and a nice feel for romantic fun, but it's the charm of Keaton and Davis that puts the bounce in an otherwise limp political satire.
--Sean Axmaker
Tracy-Hepburn meets Carville-Matalin. It should have made a great movie, but the director, Ron Underwood, and his writer, Robert King, have softened the blows that are needed for a battle of wits. Michael Keaton is a speechwriter working on a Republican senate campaign in New Mexico, Geena Davis his opposite number in the Democratic camp. They fall in love and then start hating each other-or so the movie would like us to believe. In fact, after one round of bitchery the tension dies, and they go back to helping each other out like best buddies. Davis dresses like a bossy schoolgirl, and, to some extent, behaves like one; she gives us a smart, winning portrait of principles under siege, but she needs something smoother to play off than Keaton's nervous stop-and-go style. (Christopher Reeve is much funnier as a hunk hack-basically, a huge grin and a pair of shorts-named Baghdad Bob). The film loses its way long before the end, and the climactic declaration of love is embarrassing and pretty unlikely. These are journalists, for heaven's sake. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006
The New Yorker
