Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 8, 1993 TAG: 9305080214
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BARRY KOLTNOW KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
How could he do this? What was he thinking? Any half-wit on the street could do a better job as president. Even you could do a better job. If only you had that kind of power, you could get some things done.
Hey, not a bad idea for a movie. Let's call it "Dave" and open it nationally.
Kevin Kline plays the goofy, fun-loving Dave, who runs his own slightly offbeat, temporary employment agency and supplements his meager income by impersonating the president at gala events such as car-dealership openings and kids' birthday parties. You see, Dave is the spitting image of the chief executive, and with a little training, he could ... well, you get the idea.
In fact, the president comes down with a bad case of coma, and his devious aides (Frank Langella and Kevin Dunn) concoct this elaborate scheme wherein ordinary Dave impersonates the big guy for real. Like in front of the whole world. But try explaining that to the first lady, played by Sigourney Weaver.
"I loved playing Dave," said Kline, who also plays the stuffy prez. "He's got a real sense of fun about him. He loves his job, he loves his life, and he's got a great childlike innocence. I loved going to the set each day to play him and take this journey with him.
"Playing the president, on the other hand, gave me a headache," he added. "This is a guy who doesn't like his job, doesn't like his wife, doesn't like his life. He doesn't like who he is and doesn't like the fact that he owes too many people too much. He's running scared."
Kline said he didn't model his presidential character after anyone in particular, but he acknowledged that the man does resemble former President George Bush.
"I deliberately tried to avoid modeling myself after someone because I didn't want to do a parody," the actor said. "But I guess I failed, because a lot of people have mentioned Bush Maybe it's just that Bush is in the forefront of people's consciousness right now."
Weaver said she also shied from using a specific first lady to imitate, but she picked a fascinating trio of first ladies to research for the role.
"I read a lot about Eleanor Roosevelt, who was in a similar position in that she was more progressive than her husband and also was in a failed marriage. I studied Pat Nixon because she was one of the warmest first ladies and also one of the most successful in terms of her relationship with the people.
"And, of course, there is some of Jackie Kennedy's style in there as well. My character is supposed to be a fantasy, so I borrowed a little from each woman."
Bush still was in office when screenwriter Gary Ross ("Big") and director Ivan Reitman ("Ghostbusters," "Twins," "National Lampoon's Animal House") teamed to film "Dave." President Clinton took office about the time filming was completed.
"I don't think it matters who is in office when this movie comes out," Reitman said. "Although I do think there is an optimism in the country right now that parallels the optimism in the movie.
"Then again, maybe a couple of years ago, the movie would have worked as an antidote to the cynicism that was rampant in this country. Nobody in the movie business is quite sure whether it's better to be in sync with the mood of the country or to be deliberately out of sync."
The Czechoslovakian-born, Canadian-raised director said he hates when people call "Dave" a political comedy - there is a Hollywood superstition that political movies do badly at the box office - but he said politics does make a great setting for a story.
"I've always been fascinated by American politics, and this idea of having a common man assume all this power touches something inside all of us," Reitman said. "It's that little fantasy we all have about what we would do if we were president."
Reitman said he doesn't like heavy-handed messages in his movies, but he said he wouldn't mind if people came out of his film with more than two hours of fun.
"I'd like people to come out with a sense of optimism about our future," the director said. "It's very easy to be cynical and dismiss politics. That's why I think it's better that someone other than an American director did this film. I think it's less cynical than it would have been with an American directing it."
by CNB