“The American President” at 25: An Ode to My Favorite Movie
By: Richard Lebeau
Tags: Politics, Movies, Film, Culture, Writing

Image copyright: Sony/Universal/Warner Bros.

This month marks the 25th anniversary of my favorite movie of all time. Written by a pre-West Wing Aaron Sorkin, directed by a post-When Harry Met Sally… Rob Reiner, and featuring a sterling ensemble that included some of the finest work of Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, and Michael J. Fox’s careers, The American President is a highly underrated, politically charged romance. It was released to warm critical reception and strong but unspectacular box office, but never got the following that I believed it deserved. In honor of its silver anniversary, I revisited the film and take a look at how it holds up.

My Discovery of the Movie

I have never claimed to have been a typical child. One of the many ways I deviated from the norm was through my interest in movies, music, and television that were clearly meant to appeal to consumers decades older than me. I appreciated behind-the-scenes craftsmanship, polished writing, challenging subject matter, and complex themes from a very young age.

At least once a week during my childhood, I would venture to the video store to rent one (or two or three) movies. I still remember the feeling of walking around the video store to see the new releases, what was in stock, and what was coming soon. Honestly, I probably could have spent hours browsing the small Blockbuster Video in our town (or maybe that was even before Blockbuster came to Rome, New York and I was at the mom and pop shop).

One day when I was in 6th grade, I had stayed home from school either because I had one of my classic ear infections or because I was in need of a “mental health day” (which my mother lovingly indulged). We went to the video store and picked up a copy of The American President on VHS. My mom loved Michael Douglas, I had read good coverage of it in Entertainment Weekly (my Bible as an adolescent), and it wasn’t Rated R, so we picked it up.

It was my Mom’s day off so we sat at home and popped it in the VCR. We loved it so much that when the credits roll, we immediately rewound it and watched it all over again. Since then I have seen it at least 30 times, probably more.

So what was it about this middle aged, heterosexual romantic comedy-cum-liberal political fable that intrigued a 12-year-old closeted gay boy growing up in a largely isolated Republican town? Well, everything.

What Makes the Movie Work So Beautifully

Here’s the movie’s setup:

Andrew Shepard (Oscar-winner Michael Douglas) is the President of the United States. Widowed during his presidential campaign, he rode a wave of sympathy to his win and is now enjoying nearly historic approval ratings. He is a couple of months away from the State of the Union, where he plans to announce bold legislation regarding crime prevention and fossil fuel reductions. He is supported by his Chief of Staff A.J. McInnerney (Martin Sheen), domestic policy advisor Lewis Rothchild (Michael J. Fox), press secretary Robin McCall (Anna Deavere Smith), White House Deputy Chief of Staff Leon Kodak (David Paymer), and personal aide Janie Basdin (Samantha Mathis).

Image copyright: Sony/Universal/Warner Bros.

Sydney Ellen Wade (four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) is a liberal lobbyist recently hired by a high profile environmental agency. She works under Leo Solomon (John Mahoney) and alongside Susan Sloane (Wendy Malick) and David (Joshua Malina). On her first trip to the White House she boldly critiques the president’s “mockery of environmental leadership” in a meeting with his Chief of Staff not knowing that the President is standing behind her. He is instantly smitten. (It’s a “meet cute” that could have been endlessly shmaltzy, but this film is way too sharp and sophisticated for that.)

Their whirlwind courtship instantly grabs major media attention and is exploited by the presumptive Republican nominee for President (Robert Rumson, played by Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss) to launch a character attack on Shepard. As the attacks heat up and the fossil fuel legislation is threatened, tensions erupt everywhere.

The film has countless strengths. The most obvious at first is the superlative acting. Douglas is so charismatic and convincing as Shepard that it makes me wonder how he didn’t carve out a niche as the go-to president portrayer in his post-Fatal Attraction and Wall Street years. Perhaps most impressively is how he goes toe-to-toe with Bening, who turns in one of her finest performances, which is saying something given her utterly remarkable career. She oscillates from swooning romantic to ferocious political powerhouse with remarkable ease. Both Douglas and Bening get spectacular speeches before the credits roll that alone should have earned them Oscar nominations.

They are supported by a top-notch supporting cast. Michael J. Fox takes on his most mature role to date and knocks it out of the park as the only member of the President’s team who is truly willing to challenge him. Martin Sheen effortlessly commands the screen in a fully believable, lived-in performance. Anne Deavere Smith, John Mahoney, Wendie Malick, and Joshua Malina don’t get much in the way of character development or back story but they have several memorable moments. Richard Dreyfuss is mostly a one-dimensional antagonist, but he sneers with perfection. Every role down to the smallest seems to have been cast with the utmost care.

One of the things that makes the acting so impressive is the fact that the screenplay is so challenging. Aaron Sorkin is known for his incredibly dense, verbose, fast-paced screenplays. This was his third movie screenplay, following Oscar-nominated A Few Good Men and the forgettable Alec Baldwin-Nicole Kidman thriller Malice. Sorkin’s biggest successes were ahead of him. He is perhaps most famous for creating and wrote the massively successful series The West Wing (more on the striking influence of The American President on that show below) and his Oscar win for writing David Fincher’s Facebook origin story The Social Network (he also scored additional Oscar nominations for writing Moneyball and Molly’s Game). But everything that made those projects so brilliant is evident here in droves — the wit, sophistication, intelligence, charm, tension, and power. Even as Sorkin continues to impress (his latest film, The Trial of the Chicago 7, recently premiered on Netflix and is garnering well-deserved Oscar buzz), I will always consider The American President his finest and most under-appreciated work.

The American President was directed by Rob Reiner. The Emmy-winning star of iconic 1970s sitcom All in the Family and son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Reiner had an absolutely remarkable run as a director through the 1980s and early 1990s, including When Harry Met Sally…, The Princess Bride, Stand By Me, This is Spinal Tap, Misery, and A Few Good Men (making this his second collaboration with Sorkin). He directs his ninth film with vision and precision. He brings together the superb production values beautifully — the sweeping score of Marc Shaiman, the lush and detailed production design, the warm cinematography, and the seamless editing that keeps everything perfectly paced.