I know this movie has gotten a good reception, and I know I saw it when I was in high school. I remember enjoying it, but not too enthusiastically. This time, I like it, but I have a lot more reservations than I expected.
My complaints boil down to two core issues. First, the movie relies on extreme stereotypes. In some cases, a caricature of types is appropriate. The problem is that nearly everyone fits this bill. The second issue is that there’s no lesson learned. The entire movie feels like the setup to a punchline, which is the last scene. The senator - who should obviously have a lesson learned - doesn’t seem to learn anything. He has plenty of opportunity for improvement, but he never takes it. Even Nathan Lane’s character seems like he should have learned something, but he mostly just stops being whiny for a little while.
Normally, these problems would be a death knell for a movie. But this is a special case. What this has going for it is… the cast. Everyone is hamming it up, everyone is putting the most outrageous spin on everything. It’s remarkable, it’s engrossing, it’s funny. Even Robin Williams, who would normally push the part in a direction that I would find distasteful, plays his part a little restrained, and this gives a bit of an emotional core to the movie. Not a big one, but it’s there, and it helps the movie work.
The more I think about this, I kind of like that there’s no lesson learned. People stay the same. Political philosophies are not easily challenged.
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