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The American President
Widowed U.S. president Andrew Shepherd, one of the world's most powerful men, can have anything he wants -- and what he covets most is Sydney Ellen Wade, a Washington lobbyist. But Shepherd's attempts at courting her spark wild rumors and decimate his approval ratings.
1995 · Directed by Rob Reiner · 113 min · Drama · Romance · Screenplay in the scene database · 9 frames
Tagline
Why can't the most powerful man in the world have the one thing he wants most?
Plot
Popular Democratic U.S. President Andrew Shepherd prepares to run for re-election. The president and his staff, led by Chief of Staff and best friend A. J. MacInerney, attempt to consolidate the administration's 63% approval rating by passing a moderate crime control bill. However, support for the bill in both parties is tepid: conservatives reject it, and liberals think it is too weak. If passed, however, Shepherd's re-election is presumed to be guaranteed. Shepherd resolves to announce the bill, and have the Congressional support to pass it, by his State of the Union Address.
When the widowed President's cousin Judith is sick and unable to act as hostess at a state dinner for the French president, Shepherd realizes his staff's public portrayal of him as lonely widower is true. Soon after, Shepherd meets and is attracted to Sydney Ellen Wade, a lawyer employed by an environmental lobbying firm working to pass legislation to substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions. He invites Sydney to act as hostess (and his date) at the state dinner, where she charms the guests and shares a dance with Andy.
During a meeting, Shepherd strikes a deal with Wade: if she can secure 24 votes for the environmental bill before his State of the Union Address, he will deliver the last ten. MacInerney believes Wade will fail to obtain enough votes, thus releasing Shepherd from responsibility if the bill fails to pass.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Aaron Sorkin
- Cinematography: John Seale
- Edited by: Robert Leighton
- Music: Marc Shaiman
- Production design: Lilly Kilvert
- Produced by: Rob Reiner
Cast
- Michael Douglas as Andrew Shepherd
- Annette Bening as Sydney Ellen Wade
- Martin Sheen as A.J. MacInerney
- Michael J. Fox as Lewis Rothschild
- Anna Deavere Smith as Robin McCall
- Samantha Mathis as Janie Basdin
- Shawna Waldron as Lucy Shepherd
- David Paymer as Leon Kodak
- Anne Haney as Mrs. Chapil
- Richard Dreyfuss as Senator Rumson
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: French, English
- Studios: Castle Rock Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Wildwood Enterprises
- Budget: $62,000,000
- Box office: $107,879,496
- Themes: new love, usa president, the white house, holiday, global warming, press, fossil fuel, dating, class differences, widower
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