Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Michael DouglasAndrew Shepherd
- Annette BeningSydney Ellen Wade
- Martin SheenA.J. MacInerney
- Michael J. FoxLewis Rothschild
- Anna Deavere SmithRobin McCall
- Samantha MathisJanie Basdin
- Shawna WaldronLucy Shepherd
- David PaymerLeon Kodak
- Anne HaneyMrs. Chapil
- Richard DreyfussSenator Rumson
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
Watching The American President, I felt respect for the craft that went into it: the flawless re-creation of the physical world of the White House, the smart and accurate dialogue, the manipulation of the love story to tug our heartstrings. - 88
San Francisco Examiner
An old-fashioned movie. It is simplistic, full of stock characters and easy solutions to difficult problems, and I absolutely loved it. - 80
The New York Times
With great looks, a dandy supporting cast, a zinger-filled screenplay by Aaron Sorkin ("A Few Good Men") and Mr. Douglas twinkling merrily in the Oval Office, The American President is sunny enough to make the real Presidency pale by comparison. - 75
Rolling Stone
It's a revamped Cinderella story with power as the aphrodisiac, and Douglas and Bening play it to the classy hilt. The courtship scenes in the film's lighter, more deft first half have the bounce of a moonstruck fable. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
In Sorkin's vision, this is what ought to happen when a political progressive occupies the White House -- provided he has principles, guts and more on his mind than voter-approval polls and re- election prospects. - 70
Washington Post
Wittily scripted, engagingly sappy, completely implausible and unabashedly Capraesque, it's a rather wonderful crock. - 67
Entertainment Weekly
In the end, the movie says that the President's private life matters, all right -- that Shepherd should get the girl and reestablish his leadership by giving in to the noble liberal he always was inside. Even for a modern Capra fable, that's a bit much to swallow. - 63
ReelViews
It comes across as painfully politically correct, offering trite sermons on various "hot-button" issues (gun control and the greenhouse effect). The narrative follows an unwavering by-the-numbers strategy with an ending that echoes the "cornball" of Al Pacino's climactic Scent of a Woman speech.
