Rob Reiner: The American President (1995) Starring Michael Douglas & Annette Bening

Source:IMDB- The American President: starring Michael Douglas and Annette Bening.

"Andrew Shepherd is approaching the end of his first term as President of the United States. He's a widower with a young daughter and has proved to be popular with the public. His election seems assured. That is until he meets Sydney Ellen Wade, a paid political activist working for an environmental lobby group. He's immediately smitten with her and after several amusing attempts, they finally manage to go on a date (which happens to be a State dinner for the visiting President of France). His relationship with Wade opens the door for his prime political opponent, Senator Bob Rumson, to launch an attack on the President's character, something he could not do in the previous election as Shepherd's wife had only recently died. Written by garykmcd."

Source:IMDB- Michael Douglas and Annette Bening.

From IMDB

"A widowed U.S. President running for reelection and an environmental lobbyist fall in love. It's all above-board, but "politics is perception," and sparks fly anyway."

From IMDB

"The American President - Theatrical Trailer"

Source:Movie Cars JDE- The trailer for The American President (1995)

From Movie Cars JDE

If you're someone whose a political junky such as myself and you love watching political movies and political documentaries, then The American President is a very good movie. Because it's about a President who at the beginning of the movie is pretty popular and is going into to his reelection campaign having not finished his whole agenda that he ran on, trying to finish that agenda with a crime bill and an energy bill. 

The Shepard White House goes to work with Congress to get the votes to pass that agenda and how they set up the staff to do that. And how they work with special interest groups to get the support for their energy bill. 

If you're someone who like romantic comedy's that aren't predictable and cheesy and are clever, then The American President is a good movie, because it's about a President whose a widower and the single parent of a daughter whose somewhat lonely. 

President Andrew Shepard meets an environmental lobbyist by accident, walks in on a meeting she's having with his Chief of Staff. And he asks her to be his date at the next state dinner and even the process he goes through to make that happen is interesting because he calls her up at home. And she thinks the President is one of her friends impersonating the President. And makes fun of him, but the President doesn't give up and calls her back to convince her he's the President. The American President has hardball politics, romance and political scandal in about 105 minutes. A little something for everybody.

President Andrew Shepard, with a name like that he must be from New England, but he's the former Governor of Wisconsin played by Michael Douglas. And this is one of his best roles because you see his ability to act and I'm not a big fan of most of his movies, but I believe he's a great actor and you see his funny side in the movie and he can be very funny as well. 

Douglas is no Danny DeVito (but most comedians aren't) but he can more than hold his own in comedy. Again plays the President who's somewhat popular going in heading into an election year with still a big agenda to pass, and meets this environmental lobbyist played by Annette Bening who doesn't like President Shepard's Energy bill and they talk about it.

And the President and the lobbyist (sounds like the title of a movie) make a deal that if she can land half of the votes in the House for the bill she wants, he'll get the other half. And at the end of the meeting he asks her on a date. 

She doesn't take him seriously, threatens the President that he has to come through, or the President will lose the support of her group. The President gets his date and they hit it off and start an affair that causes the President trouble politically as well as with his agenda. 

Again, The American President is a movie that has hardball politics, romance, and political scandal. With the romance and with Senate Minority Leader Bob Rumson whose also running for President making everything he can out of this affair even calling Sydney Ellen Wade a whore on national TV. And running as the Religious Right candidate for President, the Champion of Traditional Values. Running against a Liberal Democrat and a card caring member of the ACLU. 

And the scene towards the end of the movie, the press conference makes the whole thing worth watching where he sums up the whole movie in about five minutes.  

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