Swing Vote

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. I was not overly impressed with Costner's performance and that might be a credit to his prior work but he just didn't nail this. Of course it's sad that he is an alcoholic father who is being raised by his daughter and the mother is even worse. That is the background needed to get our Bud into this most unlikely situation. I loved the performance of newcomer Madeline Carroll as Molly. There were several demanding scenes and she was very believable. The political satire is cleverly hidden within the story and jokes throughout the movie, it never really feels the need to slap you in the face like an _SNL_ political skit. Bud's monologue just prior to the Final Debate may be the most enjoyable 3 minutes of movie I've seen in quite some time. Add in a brilliant ending and you have quite a viewing experience, though possibly a tad long at 2 hours