MovieChat Forums > Welcome to Mooseport (2004) Discussion > Hackman goes out with a winner, spoofing...

Hackman goes out with a winner, spoofing politics

posted 10 days ago by Wuchak (8287)
8 replies | jump to latest

My wife and I found this to be a surprisingly good comedy/drama that spoofs presidential politics and small town-isms. Gene Hackman was 73 years old during filming and it was his final film to date. Even though the movie flopped at the box office, Hackman went out a winner because he shines in the role of ex-president.

While Romano is equally effective as the ordinary guy, Gene takes the lead in a commanding performance. The movie is consistently amusing and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. The story keeps your interest and you'll find yourself caring for the characters and the outcome of the various subplots. The negative reviews are inexplicable because everything clicks here for a top-rate dramedy with a stellar cast.

My lone criticism is that they coulda done more with the women. Aside from Tierney, Jessica Holmes and Reagan Pasternak are featured, but they needed more screen time.

It was shot in Ontario, Canada, typically towns within an hour drive of Toronto, like Port Perry.

[–] Anotherday (8483) 10 days ago

I actually enjoy this.

It's stupid but fun. I got a free copy with a pizza years ago.

That and American Splendor.

[–] rootvegetables (1455) 10 days ago

The cult obsession for this film is palpable on this ever-bustling message board.

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[–] Wuchak (8287) 10 days ago

It's gotten more attention than a lot of movies on MovieChat. I recently posted on a a couple of films that had zero posts on their boards.

Besides, are there actually people out there who pick the movies they watch based on how popular they are?

[–] rootvegetables (1455) 10 days ago

There are some on this site - only some mind you - that might accuse me of referring to this film a bit excessively.

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[–] Wuchak (8287) 10 days ago

Okay, thanks for sharing.

[–] Ace_Spade (9457) 10 days ago

It's an underrated movie, for sure. The golf scene had me laughing pretty hard. I think it got bad reviews because it's not very surprising. You expect some romantic triangles, some little hangups and misunderstandings that lead to gentle comedy, and that's what you get. It's not biting enough to bring the politics to the fore, and critics probably went, "We've seen this a million times." They also would probably hit Hackman for phoning it in (he didn't) and Romano for just doing his schlubby guy from TV (so what?)

As to the women, I felt like maybe all of them weren't used optimally, but Marcia Gay Harden gets some good stuff to do and Christine Baranski is really funny. Tierney is underused, though; she's a really funny actress and has to just be a pretty generic "leading man's girlfriend" here.

If I were to hit the movie, it would certainly be on originality. It's not bringing any surprises in the set-up or execution, really - plot-wise, anyway; gags notwithstanding. That doesn't make it a bad film, but it does hold it back from being superlative.

[–] Wuchak (8287) 9 days ago

Good critique, brah.

[–] Ace_Spade (9457) 9 days ago

Thank you for saying so.