DAVE
A film review by Frank Maloney
Copyright 1993 Frank Maloney
DAVE is a film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Gary Ross. The cast includes Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, Frank Langella, Charles Grodin, and Ving Rhames. Rated PG-13 for language and sexual situations.
Trivial first things first: Kevin Kline does a nude scene; Sigourney Weaver does not. And a cute one it is. Secondly, some of you are going to be having a lot of fun spotting the many "as himself or herself" cameos by political and media celebrities. There's a pretty good list of them in the closing credits and when you go back for a second or third viewing, you'll get another chance to add to your Life Life.
And the chances are you will be going back. DAVE is a very watchable movie with a heart of gold, a popular and needed message, a gentle, affirming satire, and many engaging, even endearing performances.
There is Frank Langella as the corrupt and corrupting presidential chief of staff. Langella has developed the art of the villain to a fine point. Charles Grodin makes this his best performance in years as Dave's slightly bug-eyed, slightly long-suffering pushover pal and small businessman. Ben Kingsley is perhaps a shade too noble, a touch too wooden as the incorruptible vice-president. Ving Rhames as the head of the presidential security detail slowly unbends and opens up, turning into a really lovable guy who turns in a one-line, slightly oblique declaration of male friendship that in the context is rather sweet; otherwise, his is a nicely paced comic performance that depends on minimalist gestures and looks and is admirably, but subtly masterful.
Sigourney Weaver plays the First Lady, alienated from her husband for good reasons but hanging in there to do some good for her favorite cause. Weaver proves that she can be strong and likable and still have a very expensive haircut.
And finally, of the actors, we come to Kevin Kline, whose versatility and presence I've admired since A FISH CALLED WANDA (even though he was in several earlier films, I failed to pick up on him until then). Kline brings so much energy and enthusiasm and charm to his role of the ultimate impersonator. A question the film asks in its non-preaching way is who is greater impersonator, Dave or the President he steps in for. Kline is a perfectionist, a detail-oriented actor. In this dual role he has to look like two different men who just happen to have identical features. The way their different personalities inform and shape those features makes them recognizable to us and a kind of challenge that might be a nightmare for another actor.
The film benefits not only from having a first-rate cast but also Ivan Reitman as director and Gary Ross as writer. Reitman, who has directed GHOSTBUSTERS and TWINS, is at his best in his particular style of breezy gags, convincing production values, and a common-person's moral center. This is a worthy successor to the Capra tradition, a kind of KEVIN KLINE GOES TO WASHINGTON. Its vision and its ideals are simple and, I fear, simplistic, but they add up to a heart-warming fantasy about honesty and common-sense fixing the complex problems of the day. Maybe not, after all it's been a while since we tried honesty and commonsense. And along the way Ross has given us a lot of very funny gags, a story that offers surprises and few holes, and lots and lots of laughs.
I highly recommend DAVE to one and all, even at full prices.
-- Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney .
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