Voters can make the difference. This is shown at the latest US presidential election that’s won by Obama. That’s what Swing Vote is about. It shows that the vote of one can decide the winner. Although the circumstances that leads to it can be absurd but in the movie, the next president would be picked by Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner), a slacker father of a very brilliant girl (Madeline Carroll).
It poked fun on how the politicians base their campaigns on what they think would bring them the most votes. But what if all of it depends on a single man who is clueless? He didn’t even know who the candidates are (played by Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper). The resulting campaign circus is hilarious.
Swing Vote wants to awaken each citizen’s sense of civic duty while at the same time tries to be inspiring and uplifting. In my opinion it succeeded in all its objectives. Plus it gave birth to another young star with Madeline Carroll’s stellar performance.
Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner): America needs someone who’s bigger than their speeches.
It’s not only America that needs someone like that, every country in the world does. My hope is that Obama’s promise of change would not be broken and would resonate globally.
*Spoiler*
During the final presidential debates, Bud read letters that was sent to him by other Americans. The movie ended with Bud casting his vote and didn’t show who won.
