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A-List: PresidentsApril 3, 2003
One of the other Box Office Prophets came up with a list of the best movie presidents in a brilliant but offshoot response to a discussion about the best presidents that the United States has had. First off, as good as Martin Sheen is on The West Wing, he only gets a honorable mention due to the fact that he's on the wrong size screen. When they make the big screen West Wing movie, then he gets to be on the list. Actually attempting some type of rankings in this list, we have the following: 4) Jack Nicholson - Mars Attacks!From his exasperation as he reacts to one of his fellow world leaders being vaporized by the Martians to his reassurance of the American people that two out of three branches of government remaining ain't bad, Jack perfectly fits the tone of the tone of the spoof / homage to the classic science fiction movies of the '50s and '60s.
3) Bull Pullman - Independence DayContinuing the science fiction trend, we have the ex-military hero, willing to get out and lead his troops type of president. Okay, truth be told, I'd put him on the list simply for his speech before the big battle. "We will not go quietly into the night...we will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today, we celebrate our independence day!" Er, okay. Maybe that works better in the context of the check your brain at the door, summer blockbuster but I swear it worked in the movie.
2) Michael Douglas - The American PresidentMoving past the obvious shots about Douglas being in the ultimate rich, white guy role (think about it a minute....most of his roles can use that as a baseline description), Douglas does a good job with portraying a President who dares to have a personal life. It definitely helps that Annette Bening was cast as the lobbyist / President's girlfriend. In a throwback to a time where movies actually liked our politicians, Douglas's president not only manages to defend his girlfriend, he takes on the politics for politics sake. Given that it's Hollywood, he even manages to do that in a closing, triumphant speech just in time for the credits to roll.
1) Kevin Kline - DaveThe everyman fantasy that sees our protagonist suddenly become a stand-in for a comatose President, the appeal of the movie and Kline's performance is that refuses to play by his handler's rules. Between his good intentions and ignorance of the system, he actually attempts to make good on what are supposed to be just empty political promises. Unburdened by the ever present need to be re-elected, our stand-in President does what we wish that our elected officials would do: the right thing, even if the right thing is political suicide. Kline does a wonderful job both as the everyman trying to find his way after being thrown into the White House as well as acting like the confident President that he is replacing.Honorable mention goes to Bruce Greenwood for his portrayal of JFK for Thirteen Days. His performance is probably even better than the performances above. Kudos go to those doing the casting to look to the performance instead of insisting on a physical resemblance. The honorable mention is only due to the fact that the role doesn't meet the requirements of the list since it's portrayal of a real president as opposed to an only in the movies president.
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