Dave (1993) * * *

Directed by:  Ivan Reitman

Starring:  Kevin Kline, Frank Langella, Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Dunn, Ben Kingsley, Ving Rhames, Laura Linney, Charles Grodin

In our currently combative political climate, watching Dave again feels like a breath of fresh air, and perhaps a fairy tale.    Dave is a political satire which doesn't mention liberalism, conservatism, Democrats, Republicans, or immigration.   The problems plaguing the nation in the time of Dave are financially driven and fixable.    How do we save shelters from closing?   By getting rid of programs which spend millions on ad campaigns so "people can feel better about cars they've already bought,"   Or maybe we should stop paying contractors on time for work they haven't completed.    Sounds reasonable enough.   Dave was made during, if not a simpler time, a time in which the responsibilities of the presidency were taken more seriously.

We first meet the stoic, charisma-free President Bill Mitchell (Kline), who sleeps in a separate bedroom at the White House from his wife Ellen (Mitchell), and, besides being engulfed in a savings and loan scandal, suffers a debilitating stroke during sex with one of his assistants.    While keeping Mitchell's incapacitation a secret from the American people, Chief of Staff Bob Alexander (Langella) hatches a plan:   Quickly find a lookalike to play the part of the President, and Alexander can pull the strings and run the country from behind the scenes.   The last thing Alexander wants is to hand the country over to "that boy scout" Vice-President Nance (Kingsley), who he plans to frame for the savings and loan fiasco.   

The lookalike falls from the sky in the form of a temp staff agency head named Dave Kovic (also Kline), who was hired as a stand-in when the Prez is having his tryst.    After some coaxing, Dave agrees to play the part of President permanently.   It's easy enough to avoid Ellen, since Mitchell rarely sees her, and things go as planned...until Dave actually wants to use his role to actually do some good for the country and have some fun at the same time.    This causes a slow, intense burn for Alexander, played with appropriate, sinister teeth-gnashing by Langella.    His monster has now grown out of his control.  

Naturally, Ellen won't stay on the sidelines.   Her passion project is a local homeless shelter for children which will soon be closed due to budget cuts.   She confronts Dave about the matter while he is taking a shower, which one would think would lead to discovery, but doesn't.   Dave promises to save the shelter, and hires his accountant friend Murray (Grodin, in a funny cameo) to help him sort out the budget.   As Murray pores over the confusing federal government books, Murray observes, "If I ran my business like this, I'd be out of business,"

Dave is satirical to be sure, but warm and with a heart.   The movie, directed by Canadian Ivan Reitman, still believes in utilizing the power of the presidency to do good.    The American people put their trust in the President to make their lives better, to paraphrase Dave during an important speech.   Kline brings just the right amount of everyman and decency to the role, with Weaver being his match.   The inevitable romantic complications are less interesting than the main event, and the final scene brings about a payoff which would lead to rumblings and questions by anyone with half a brain.  

However, the bulk of Dave fights for the positives a President can bring to enrich the lives of his (or one day her) constituents.    People in positions of power have that duty.   A President's job isn't simply to figure out how he will be re-elected in four years.   Even though the film was made twenty-five years ago, its message is more welcome now than ever before.