Costner's 'Swing Vote' a sweet comedy-drama about public duty

Just when months of presidential campaigning are threatening to burn out many American voters, along comes "Swing Vote" to remind us again what's important.

A cynical yet sweet comedy-drama about public duty and parental responsibility, "Swing Vote" is timed to have its say as the Democrats and Republicans head toward their respective conventions and the November election. It's not stumping for either party; its loyalties lie with the ideas on which this country was founded.

Viewers are asked to disregard the fact that it breaks some laws in the process.

In the small town of Texico, N.M., fifth-grader Molly Johnson (Madeline Carroll) feels like she's raising her perpetually drunk father, Bud (Kevin Costner), rather than the other way around. Bud's philosophy is to get through life with as little effort as possible, and he has failed Molly again and again.

Her frustrations come to a head when Bud doesn't show up at the polling place to vote in the presidential election. Through a contrived but reasonable series of events, Molly stands in for her father, but though the voting machine registers that Bud has voted, it doesn't log for whom he has voted.

The election turns out to be so close that the outcome will depend on New Mexico's electoral votes. And the state can't commit those until Bud completes his voting in a special, one-man election.

Consequently, Republican President Andrew Boone (Kelsey Grammer) and Democratic challenger Donald Greenleaf (Dennis Hopper), along with their entourages and the media, descend upon Texico. Boone and Greenleaf and their respective campaign advisers, Martin Fox and Art Crumb (Stanley Tucci and Nathan Lane, both underused), set out to woo Bud, turning his double-wide into a shrine to consumerism and using his heroes, Willie Nelson and Richard Petty, to try to sway him.

The script by director Joshua Michael Stern and Jason Richman gets plenty of laughs by painting a fairly accurate portrait of the media. But its comic highs are the commercials the two candidates make to appeal to Bud. It's simultaneously hilarious and repellent to see what people are willing to sacrifice for political gain.

Tied into the tale of Bud's political awakening is the more serious matter of the father-daughter relationship. Costner doesn't hesitate to make Bud unlikable so that the stakes feel real. Newcomer Carroll perfectly embodies Molly's mix of childlike and adult attributes.

Fine acting by Grammer, Hopper and Paula Patton as an ambitious reporter seals the deal in this modern spin on Capraesque storytelling. "Swing Vote" makes sure the audience wins.

Rated PG-13 for language.

Four stars (out of five)

(Contact Knoxville News Sentinel film critic Betsy Pickle at pickle(at)knews.com.)