This sparkling romcom is a joy as widowed US president Michael Douglas falls for lobbyist Annette Bening
This sparkling romcom is a joy as widowed US president Michael Douglas falls for lobbyist Annette Bening.
Love wasn't in the manifesto of Douglas, but then Bening argues her way into his life...
Both as a sleek romantic comedy and as a sophisticated political satire, this is a landslide victory for the two stars.
Bening glows with good nature and her initial courtship scenes are exquisite. Douglas' calm authority is the perfect foil for her and the film also does well by Michael J Fox and Martin Sheen as his key spin doctors and Richard Dreyfuss as his main political rival.
The super-sharp script ('We had a nice couple of minutes: she threatened me; I patronised her') is spot-on, the plot's feelgood factor couldn't register any higher and the fact that Douglas always seems far too trustworthy and decisive to be playing a politician only adds to the fun.
Great entertainment.
