The Making (and Mocking) of a President: "Dave"

 In this country, we’re fastapproaching the every-four-years Silly Season, when candidates go to insaneextremes to convince voters not to support their opponents. (Given the natureof the 2024 U.S. presidential candidates and their proxies, insanity is trulythe name of the game.) Last evening, I decided to turn away from politicalrealities by watching a 1993 film that finds great humor and heart in a  presidential what-if.

 In Dave, which cameout in the year of Schindler’s List, Kevin Kline plays U.S. PresidentBill Mitchell,  a cold-hearted man withan eye for pretty young bed-warmers. It bothers him not one whit that hisbehavior has permanently estranged the First Lady (Sigourney Weaver), who onlypretends to be part of a happy presidential couple. But his misbehavior catchesup with him when, in bed with a cute member of his staff, he suffers a severestroke. His cagey chief of staff (the always-slightly-reptilian Frank Langella)has no wish to undermine his own power by handing the reins of government overto the squeaky-clean vice-president (Ben Kingsley, of all people).l Hissolution is to elevate a convenient look-alike (also, of course, played byKevin Kline) into the presidency. Kline’s Dave, who runs a Georgetown tempagency, is naturally at first awed by the honor of pretending to be PresidentMitchell. He’s naïve about the personalities of the powers that be, andoverwhelmed by the thrill of actually occupying the presidential suite in theWhite House. (When he lifts up a phone receiver to make a call from the OvalOffice, he feels the need to ask if he needs to dial 9 first.)

 But Dave, for all hisaw-shucks manner, is not exactly a fool. He believes in his country’s mission,sees true honor in helping the genuinely needy, and quickly discovers that asPresident Mitchell he’s positioned to do an end-run around his malevolent chiefof staff. There comes a time, though, when the situation of a missing,ailing  president has to be permanentlyresolved. And Dave’s inventive solution, which I’m sure takes most viewerscompletely by surprise, allows for a happy ending that’s at least semi-credible,given all that’s gone before.

 It's well known that comedies,even excellent ones, are generally overlooked when Oscars are handed out. Theyear of Schindler’s List also produced a number of other seriously greatfilms, like The Remains of the Day, The Age of Innocence, and Philadelphia,the AIDS-related drama for which Tom Hanks won his first Oscar.  Dave was nominated for exactly one AcademyAward, a well-deserved nod to Gary Ross for his original screenplay, whichbeautifully sets up all the craziness to come. (As a longtime teacher ofscreenwriting. I salute him.) The screenwriting Oscar, though, went to JaneCampion, for her extraordinarily inventive work on The Piano. (Otherlosers in that category were Ron Nyswaner for writing Philadelphia andNora Ephron—among others—for scripting a romcom classic, Sleepless inSeattle.)

 Politics American-style is afunny business. The year of Dave’s release into theatres was also theyear that William Jefferson Clinton entered the White House. When the threat ofa presidential impeachment arose in Dave, audiences of the time werewell aware that a U.S. president had never been impeached since Andrew Johsonin 1868. That was to change in 1998 following the notorious Monica Lewinskyaffair, and of course we all know what president was impeached twice during hissingle term in office.

 What’s going on our countrytoday is no laughing matter. But I’m grateful that Dave finds some humorin unthinkable news from Washington.