A heartwarming story of mistaken identity and idealism, director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) takes on the political establishment in this fresh, funny comedy. Kevin Kline (Sophie's Choice, A Fish Called Wanda) plays Dave Kovic, a sweet man with a big heart running an employment agency. Dave happens to be a dead ringer for the current president of the United States, and he hires himself out as an impersonator for parties and mall openings. When the real president has a stroke while in bed with an aide, his ambitious chief of staff (Frank Langella) decides to hold onto the White House by appealing to Dave's sense of patriotism and having him pose as the president. Soon, however, Dave is running the country in a way contrary to what the chief of staff would like, even as he finds himself falling in love with the unsuspecting first lady (Sigourney Weaver). The movie's unbridled optimism is its best asset, and it makes this a pleasant comedy worth seeing. --Robert Lane
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Judging by their looks, conservative United States President Bill Mitchell and liberal minded temp-agency owner Dave Kovic could be identical twins separated at birth. When two Secret Service agents, at Chief-of-Staff Bob Alexander's request, clandestinely draft Dave into servicing his country by temporarily standing-in for President Mitchell, the carefree humanitarian gladly answers his call to duty. After all, as the President's look-alike Dave has aped austere Mitchell before.
Luckily, the plan goes off without a hitch. But in an ironic twist of fate, President Mitchell is incapacitated, leaving Dave in a political hot-spot. Once Dave takes the extraordinary opportunity to implement progressive programs, reduce the national deficit and significantly effect social change, he nearly overturns Mitchell's reactionary administration, even as the very handlers begin conspiring against him.
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Real-life Washington politicos and pundits join the fun as Dave uses ordinary-guy savvy to deal with the extraordinary responsibilities of the Oval Office.
Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver star in this box-office winner about an uncanny Presidential lookalike recruited as a momentary stand-in for America's Chief Executive. However, things don't turn out exactly as planned and Dave finds himself continuing the masquerade indefinitely.
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