Swing Vote
(2008/Disney Blu-ray + DVD-Video)
Picture: B/C+
Sound: B/C+ Extras: D Film: D
An opportunistic comedy with no laughs, Kevin Costner
comes up empty once again with Joshua Michael Stein’s Swing Vote (2008); a would-be goofy comedy in which small town
American Bud Johnson (Costner) misses voting and now has the burden of casting
the deciding vote on who will be the next President of The United States. After what the world has been through in the
last 8 years and with the 2008 election, this is not funny and would never be
under any circumstance.
Of course, it is lite with a name guest cast (Dennis
Hopper, Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Stanley Tucci, George Lopez) and a
Disney-fied addition of pushing young Madeline Carroll (yes, the same name as
the great actress of decades ago) as his overachieving daughter. The result is phony, phony, phony but never
funny. It is the mentality of this film
that made a Sarah Palin exist and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of
stupidity. I don’t know what Disney was
thinking, but this did not do well at the box office and I doubt it will find a
new audience as I believe people have had it with such humor. Especially when there are no laughs.
The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is surprisingly
soft throughout makes the color look phony to boot, while the anamorphically
enhanced DVD is much worse with a flat, pale look throughout. The PCM 24/48 5.1 mix on the Blu-ray should
have been pretty decent, but the recording and mix disappoint, while the Dolby
Digital 5.1 on the DVD (and Spanish DD on the Blu-ray) sound much weaker
throughout. Extras include a making of
featurette, audio commentary by Stein & Writer Jason Richman and
deleted/extended scenes with nothing new to offer. Stein supplies optional commentary.
- Nicholas Sheffo
