A recasting of The Prisoner of Zenda or The Prince and the Pauper or State Secret (or others) as a post-Perot piece of sentimental populism about a Presidential look-alike who's installed in the Oval Office by Machiavellian wire-pullers when the real President is laid low by a stroke. (Overexertion with the office secretary: ha-ha.) Being a decent sort, the imposter does more good than any recent five or six Presidents put together: all it takes to solve America's problems is a head screwed on straight and a willingness to roll up the sleeves and burn the midnight oil (one night only). Director Ivan Reitman and scriptwriter Gary Ross are selective satirists: bristly about politicians (several actual ones from both major parties appear in cameos, to show what good sports they are and perhaps to exempt themselves from implication) but soft-soapy about the common man. In other words, not really satirists at all. In fact, more like politicians. And let's leave Frank Capra out of it: Capra saw the good business sense of flattering the commoner, but he had his limits and he held onto his self-respect. Still, the movie is intermittently amusing, with plenty of automatic-pilot proficiency on both sides of the camera. Among the more tangible displays are those of Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Charles Grodin, and, most ingratiatingly, the deadpan Ving Rhames as the Presidential bodyguard. (1993) — Duncan Shepherd
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