IRRESISTIBLE
***
Director: Jon Stewart
Screenwriter: Jon Stewart
Principal cast:
Steve Carell
Rose Byrne
Chris Cooper
Mackenzie Davis
Topher Grace
Natasha Lyonne
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 101 mins.
Australian release date: 15 October 2020.
Jon Stewart’s (ex-host of television’s The Daily Show) Irresistible is a satirical look at the behind-the-scenes machinations of politics in present-day USA… it’s funny but it sure ain’t pretty! It commences on the night of the 2016 presidential election, with Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell), a Democratic strategist, and his Republican counterpart Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), being interviewed by the news media. Rattled by the results, these two spin doctors are being honest for once, frankly revealing to the reporters that they lie for a living. As Faith tells them, “And you know I lie. I'm actually in this position because of how effectively I lie to you. Are we clear?” This may come across as a shock to many but it is, of course, the truth and it’s the premise of this ironical film: the person who lies the most, and the most often, wins, “As long as I say it repeatedly, doggedly,” says Faith, “And with unearned confidence,” adds Gary. Which is about the last time either of them is so candid in the entire movie.
After his candidate’s unexpected loss in the election, Gary realises his party needs someone ‘authentic’ to represent them, so when one of his staffers shows him a clip of a guy remonstrating with his local mayor at a town meeting in right-wing, provincial Deerlaken, Wisconsin, declaiming, “If you can’t live your principles in the bad times, I guess they’re not principles - they’re just hobbies,” his eyes light up. When one of his workers isn’t as enthusiastic, Gary explodes: “John Wayne and a tractor have a baby and all you can say is ‘nice.’” In a flash, he’s on a plane, off to meet Colonel Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper), ex-Marine, farmer, all-round good-guy and, incredibly, a Democrat. He’s convinced that if he can get the town to vote for the colonel in the upcoming mayoral elections, he can learn what he needs to swing the mid-west towards the Democrats in the 2020 presidential elections. As he imports his Washington D.C. style politicking to the shrinking town of Deerlaken, national interest in the contest heats up and his nemesis, Faith, arrives in town to strategise for the Republicans. What these two slick operators don’t understand, however, is that the hicks from the heartland aren’t quite as dumb as they take them for.
Stewart’s screenplay for Irresistible leans towards being too broad at times, approaching slapstick, which is a shame because the political insights are funny enough on their own and don’t need cheap sight-gags to support them. Watching the professional politicos spar is amusing because you know in your heart of hearts that these two aren’t exaggerating all that much. There are, indeed, people like them in the major parties in D.C. and watching them learn that the whole world is not the same is a treat - this script has a sting in its tail. Carell and Byrne are both very good (it’d be interesting to know who their role-models were) and very funny but Cooper doesn’t have much to do, other than be nice. Canadian actress Mackenzie Davis has a more important part as Col. Hastings’ daughter Diana.
Irresistible was apparently inspired by a special election held in a congressional district in the state of Georgia in 2017, when the two major parties and the political action committees (PACs) and Super PACs that supported them spent more than 55 million US dollars, the most expensive congressional election contest in American history. The lesson to be learnt from Stewart’s observant film is that many people in the southern and mid-western states are beginning to be heartily sick of all this money thrown around every four years, only to be forgotten about until the next election. And, as the saying goes, some of them don’t just get mad, they want to get even.
P.S. Don’t leave before the end credits finish rolling. There’s a nice little coda.
Screenwriter: Jon Stewart
Principal cast:
Steve Carell
Rose Byrne
Chris Cooper
Mackenzie Davis
Topher Grace
Natasha Lyonne
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 101 mins.
Australian release date: 15 October 2020.
Jon Stewart’s (ex-host of television’s The Daily Show) Irresistible is a satirical look at the behind-the-scenes machinations of politics in present-day USA… it’s funny but it sure ain’t pretty! It commences on the night of the 2016 presidential election, with Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell), a Democratic strategist, and his Republican counterpart Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), being interviewed by the news media. Rattled by the results, these two spin doctors are being honest for once, frankly revealing to the reporters that they lie for a living. As Faith tells them, “And you know I lie. I'm actually in this position because of how effectively I lie to you. Are we clear?” This may come across as a shock to many but it is, of course, the truth and it’s the premise of this ironical film: the person who lies the most, and the most often, wins, “As long as I say it repeatedly, doggedly,” says Faith, “And with unearned confidence,” adds Gary. Which is about the last time either of them is so candid in the entire movie.
After his candidate’s unexpected loss in the election, Gary realises his party needs someone ‘authentic’ to represent them, so when one of his staffers shows him a clip of a guy remonstrating with his local mayor at a town meeting in right-wing, provincial Deerlaken, Wisconsin, declaiming, “If you can’t live your principles in the bad times, I guess they’re not principles - they’re just hobbies,” his eyes light up. When one of his workers isn’t as enthusiastic, Gary explodes: “John Wayne and a tractor have a baby and all you can say is ‘nice.’” In a flash, he’s on a plane, off to meet Colonel Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper), ex-Marine, farmer, all-round good-guy and, incredibly, a Democrat. He’s convinced that if he can get the town to vote for the colonel in the upcoming mayoral elections, he can learn what he needs to swing the mid-west towards the Democrats in the 2020 presidential elections. As he imports his Washington D.C. style politicking to the shrinking town of Deerlaken, national interest in the contest heats up and his nemesis, Faith, arrives in town to strategise for the Republicans. What these two slick operators don’t understand, however, is that the hicks from the heartland aren’t quite as dumb as they take them for.
Stewart’s screenplay for Irresistible leans towards being too broad at times, approaching slapstick, which is a shame because the political insights are funny enough on their own and don’t need cheap sight-gags to support them. Watching the professional politicos spar is amusing because you know in your heart of hearts that these two aren’t exaggerating all that much. There are, indeed, people like them in the major parties in D.C. and watching them learn that the whole world is not the same is a treat - this script has a sting in its tail. Carell and Byrne are both very good (it’d be interesting to know who their role-models were) and very funny but Cooper doesn’t have much to do, other than be nice. Canadian actress Mackenzie Davis has a more important part as Col. Hastings’ daughter Diana.
Irresistible was apparently inspired by a special election held in a congressional district in the state of Georgia in 2017, when the two major parties and the political action committees (PACs) and Super PACs that supported them spent more than 55 million US dollars, the most expensive congressional election contest in American history. The lesson to be learnt from Stewart’s observant film is that many people in the southern and mid-western states are beginning to be heartily sick of all this money thrown around every four years, only to be forgotten about until the next election. And, as the saying goes, some of them don’t just get mad, they want to get even.
P.S. Don’t leave before the end credits finish rolling. There’s a nice little coda.