Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 8, 1993 TAG: 9305080246
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's a good-natured story cut from the same cloth as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," but with obvious references to today's political questions. The parallels between the cinematic fiction and last year's election (and what has happened since) are eerie.
President William Mitchell (Kevin Kline) is aloof and patrician; a head of state who can deliver a fine speech but has lost touch with the people who elected him. Dave Kovic (also Kline) runs a temporary employment agency and uses his remarkable resemblance to the president to earn a few extra bucks impersonating him at car dealerships and the like.
When Mitchell needs a stand-in (for reasons best left unexplained) the Secret Service finds Dave. And when the president is incapacitated by "a slight circulatory problem of the head," his wily chief of staff (Frank Langella) persuades Dave to maintain the masquerade.
The rest of the film revolves around the conflict between common-sense answers to complicated problems and the conventional Washington wisdom of business as usual. This being Hollywood entertainment, you don't need a degree in political science to figure out which side wins.
At its worst moments, the film is a bit slow and preachy, and it often threatens to become too sweet. But Gary Ross's script is sharp. At key moments, he cuts through the tangled web of government to focus on one thing: jobs. Or, as someone else put it recently, "It's the economy, stupid."
Director Ivan Reitman ("Meatballs," "Ghostbusters," etc.) tells the story without many tricks beyond appearances by everybody who is anybody inside the Beltway.
He got wonderful performances from the entire cast and that's the real secret to the film. As the key White House schemers, Langella and Kevin Dunn are completely believable; and so are Ving Rhames, as Duane, the stand-up Secret Service agent; Sigourney Weaver, as a First Lady who doesn't miss her husband at all; and Ben Kingsley as a bemused vice president.
In his dual roles, Kevin Kline manages to do subtle variations on both George Bush and Bill Clinton. It really is an incredible acting job that never seems forced or overdone.
In the end, the film's message that there aren't any easy answers may keep it from being one of the summer's blockbusters, but "Dave" may wind up being one of the year's most intelligent comedies.
"Dave: *** A Warner Bros. release playing at the Salem Valley 8 and Tanglewood Mall Theatre. 100 min. Rated PG-13 for some strong language, sexual material.