In a country where anybody can become President, anybody just did.
Overview
A sweet-natured Temp Agency operator and amateur Presidential look-alike is recruited by the Secret Service to become a temporary stand-in for the President of the United States.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.6/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.45/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Metacritic: 76
TMDB: 6.7/10
Director
Ivan Reitman
Production
Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions, Northern Lights Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures
Cast
Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames, Ben Kingsley, Charles Grodin, Faith Prince, Laura Linney, Bonnie Hunt, Parley Baer, Stefan Gierasch, Anna Deavere Smith, Charles Hallahan, Tom Dugan, Alba Oms, Steve Witting, Kellen Sampson, Lexie Bigham, Frederic W. Barnes
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, idealistic political comedy with real charm, strong performances, and a surprisingly sincere belief in public service. It’s predictable in outline, but the cast and the movie’s Capra-like optimism make it easy to enjoy.
Best for
Viewers who like feel-good comedies with a civic-minded streak
Fans of Kevin Kline’s warm, affable screen persona
Audiences who enjoy political satire that stays light rather than cynical
People in the mood for a smart, crowd-pleasing 90s studio comedy
Skip if
You want sharp, biting political satire
You prefer fast, joke-dense farce over character-driven comedy
You’re allergic to earnestness or sentimental endings
Overview
Dave is one of those 90s comedies that wins you over by being fundamentally decent. The setup is high-concept and a little absurd, but the movie keeps finding humor in ordinary competence, kindness, and the idea that public life might still be improved by someone who actually cares about people.
Worth noting
Kevin Kline makes the premise work because he never plays it as a gimmick; he gives Dave enough humility and intelligence to feel believable inside the fantasy. Sigourney Weaver and Frank Langella add polish and authority, and the supporting cast helps the film feel like a real political ecosystem rather than a sketch stretched to feature length.
Bottom line
It’s not especially surprising, and it doesn’t aim for savage satire. But as a warm, accessible comedy about decency, compromise, and the possibility of doing the right thing, it lands better than its premise suggests.
Top Letterboxd reviews
matt lynch (3★) · 634 likes
Somebody find Trump's nice-guy double.
drucilla (5★) · 502 likes
Our constitution should have an amendment that says all new presidents must watch Dave before their inauguration.
Richard (3★) · 267 likes
One of Schwarzenegger's best.
Matt Singer (4★) · 245 likes
“Things aren’t fine. We’ve got so many problems that we don’t even wanna look at them anymore. They just blend together into this great big noise. Pretty soon we can’t even hear ourselves think. But that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is that we feel like we can’t do anything about it. And that’s a tragedy. Because we can. We don’t know where to start, maybe, maybe that’s what it is. But I have an idea of where we can start.”
The best Frank Capra movie Frank Capra never made.
1999 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 43m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (309.8K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus, Philo
A smart, funny study of ambition and public image, with a more acidic view of civic life.
Topics
political satire, feel-good comedy, 90s studio comedy, fish-out-of-water, identity swap, Capra-esque, romantic comedy, civic idealism, conspiracy, lighthearted