Robert J. Maxwell Interesting premise -- two genuine ex presidents (Lemon and Garner) on the run from a murderous cabal in the White House and the NSA. They accidentally find themselves in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in North Carolina, a state which is not ALL nowhere, and must somehow reach Lemon's Presidential Library in Ohio for the hidden evidence that will save them. The evidence is not there, so they must travel back to Washington somehow and meet the problem head on.That the evidence isn't there is symptomatic of the film's weaknesses. The whole trip from North Carolina to Ohio was pointless except that it gave the two ex rivals a chance to have comic encounters with red necks, the unemployed, illegal immigrants, and the like. The business with the imminent scandal about kick backs is just a peg to hang a funny adventure on. After enough amusing episodes you forget what the whole deal was about anyway and just enjoy the performances of Lemon and Garner. There are a few brief scenes of credible pathos too. More than once, Lemon almost breaks down when he looks in the mirror and notices that he's aged.And Garner is given a brief but bombastic flag-waving populist speech that's unconvincing, yet Lemon comments that if Garner had spoken like that during the debates, he, Lemon, would have lost by a wider margin. Lemon is sincere, but it would have been much funnier if he'd said that he, Lemon, would have WON the race. These guys are two throat-cutting rascals and yet the audience is supposed to applaud a lusty, go-get-'em panegyric that's straight out of the Boy Scout's Handbook.It has its diverting moments and gets a number of chuckles but it's determinedly lower middle-brow. It has some vulgarity but it's not used to great comic effect. The script flirts (twice) with "the f word" but doesn't use it. Mostly the situations and characters are cute. It all turns into an amusing action movie at the end -- at the happy end.The two principals are appealing, one a Republican, the other a Democrat, but the cracks are equally distributed between, say, Kennedy's womanizing and Ford's clumsiness. Garner is the more likable of the two, perhaps because he looks and sounds more like a political manipulator, and perhaps because it's sad to see how old and stiff Jack Lemon has become. Two ladies are on brief and welcome display, both stunning: Marg Helgenberger and Sela Ward. The most compelling character is the villainous Everett McGill, the spawn of Demos. He has a skull-like face and his hair almost reaches his eyebrows. The arrangement doesn't leave much room for a forehead.It's not an insulting flick. It's not bad. But you can almost hear the joints creaking as it reaches for laughs, many of which elude it.

erickperez68 Great movie that really captured my attention. when the film started it was kind of boring, but then the action began. i liked the part where they got into the gay march.what i most liked about this movie was when they found this family at the picnic and they stole their car. the appeared as nothing happened and the family didn't do anything to stop them. After a while they knew that a baby was in the back seat and they had to go back. In the whole movie i was thinking that they couldn't get caught. there were just a few exceptions, for example the beginning, it began kind of boring, i would change and make a funny part for the beginning. it was a really good movie and i will recommend it. I'm voting 8 out of 10 because as i said, the beginning was not that good.

Mark Dragicevic Political comedies can be notoriously difficult to comprehend and/or stomach at the best of times, but this is a gem. Lemmon and Garner play it strictly for laughs, and hit the target on almost every occasion.The script may not be particularly subtle, and there is a propensity for cheap laughs with mildly foul language (save one utterance of an F word) - but there are some big big belly laughs to be had, not just in the witty script but also some nicely staged slapstick moments.A woeful bit of CGI when our two heroes are supposed to be on horseback is the only black mark against the production values - the pace is slick, the writing witty and inventive, the punchlines come thick and fast - and there's hardly a moment that comes anywhere near giving you 'the red ass'! Rent/buy and enjoy!

Shannon Hubbell When this film first came out, the trailers did not interest me in the least. I actually avoided seeing it so as to avoid seeing two cool actors make asses out of themselves (in a bad way). The film was rather poorly marketed, in other words. It looked like Beavis and Butthead with two old guys (in a bad way).In other words, I'm glad this was the film shown on an Amtrak train a few years back. I think I was laughing harder than anyone else in my car. Frankly, I think a few jokes sailed over people's heads. I remember in particular that the hilarious mispronunciation of "facade" by Dan Ackroyd's clueless VP didn't merit a titter. A few people looked at me oddly when I laughed at it.This isn't brilliant film-making, mind you. It's simply a vehicle for a lot of very talented comic actors to have fun with some ripe material. It may dip into preachiness now and again, but that is always redeemed ASAP by an entertaining round of rapid-fire bickering.On an aside, I have to say that I've been in love with Lauren Bacall since I saw The Big Sleep for the first time. It was great to see her in this and even greater to see that she still has a knack for the sharply delivered one-liner. Also, for someone born in the 20s she looks amazing. You heard me right. At 82 years, Lauren Bacall is still hot. Bogie was a very lucky man.