The American President

I watched 5 movies this weekend, 1) Hart’s War, 2) The Naked Gun – Smell of fear,

3) The Naked Gun – The final insult, 4) The Lady from Shanghai and 5) The American President. And I didn’t felt like writing about any of the above apart from the last one.

Michael Douglas stars in the movie as the American President, with Martin Sheen and Michael J Fox in supporting roles. It’s a soft romantic comedy about the most powerful man in the free world i.e. The American President, who lost his wife 3 years ago due to cancer and had been single since than, one day encounters an Environmentalist Lobbyist Miss Sydney Wade in White House. He falls for her right away, and invites her to be his date for a state dinner in honor for the new French President.

As Presidents personal staff starts contemplating about the negative affects this budding affair could have on re-election, the opposition starts forming their offensive strategy centered on the character of the President. And while the President tries to woo the girl, just like a simple man would, he tells every body in his staff to mind their own business about his (President’s) personal life as he is a single man and there is noting wrong about him dating a woman.

Things start getting complicated as President start loosing his popularity in pre election polls due to strong propaganda by the opposition over the character issue, and further due to a complication that arises when he has to choose between a bill he wants to put in Senate (The American Parliament) against a bill that Sydney wants to put. How he manages to win against all odds in the end forms the climax of the movie.

Frankly such a movie can’t be made in Indian context, as there is a wide difference between how we judge morality as compared to the Americans public. While not missing the fact that in India we have never seen President or the Prime Minister as a character in a movie (‘Asambhav’ being the only exception), as by doing such a thing a maker may expect wide arrays of protest, starting right from sensor and ending with the ‘karyakartas’ of different political parties.

On the whole it makes an entertaining and intelligent watch. Romance with politics as backdrop. Nice…

Rating ***.