Swing Vote
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: August 1, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
15
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is a genial comedy, but it has significant undertones. Like some of Frank Capra's pictures. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The film seems like a loose and uncredited updating of "The Great Man Votes," a more serious 1939 entry. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Swing Vote is messy and its targets are relatively safe. But its aim is true. And Costner's performance hits the bull's-eye. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The thing is far too absurd and broadly played for its own good. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The mix of comedy and drama is winning; Costner couldn't be better, and the little girl is a find. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Swing Vote marries mild satire with Capra-esque melodrama in a formula that works surprisingly well. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin Chang
Picture's comic smarts and affecting daddy-daughter drama provide a sturdy platform for its heartfelt advocacy of informed voting and responsible citizenship. Read full review
67
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Costner does something difficult: In the middle of a tepid comic whirlpool, he finds the humorous aspect of inertia. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
This one may be soft and derivative. But the actors establish a groove and stay on-message. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
This reasonably entertaining movie falters by trying to be both a dark comedy and a sentimental treatise on family and country. Read full review
60
EmpireIan Nathan
This light satire is unlikely to influence the forthcoming election, but Costner's in fine fettle. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
If the title hadn't already been taken by another equally strained recent comedy, the new Kevin Costner vehicle could have been dubbed "Idiocracy." Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Costner (who's also a producer) plays to his middle-aged strengths in a role that exaggerates male weaknesses. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The longer Swing Vote hangs around, the more engaging it becomes. It's twice as smart as you have any reason to expect but still only half as smart as you wish it were. Read full review
50
Washington PostLaura Yao
The film's not nearly as idiotic as its trailer made it seem, because it's not really about voting, or politics. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
A mainstream, eager-to-please, relatively generic endeavor, not an auteurist showcase. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
A maddeningly indistinct picture. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This is a killer idea for a political satire, and screenwriters Jason Richman and Joshua Michael Stern come close to realizing its farcical potential. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
As in so many essentially childish movies, it's an actual child who's always the smartest pants in the room. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Everyone, including the candidates, will recognize the importance of civic duty, leaving Swing Vote to end with swelling music and uplifting speechifying but on a completely unsatisfactory note. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Dusted off and brought up to date, it's still the same old Capracorn – minus the populist pizzazz he might have provided. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
A good-ol'-boy civics lesson that's too scattered to achieve its predictable goals. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
This potentially sharp working-class fantasy proves strangely unsatisfying. Read full review
40
SlateDana Stevens
Swing Vote isn't exactly a toothless political satire. It's something worse: a satire with dentures. Read full review
40
TimeRichard Corliss
Swing Vote falls from agreeable fable into wan satire. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Hopelessly muddled film cries out for the firm hand of a dyed-in-the-wool cynic like Billy Wilder, who would have put some teeth in its jabs at amoral politicians and blindly ambitious journalists. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Swing Vote is a satire that's afraid to satirize. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Swing Vote may muster a few easy laughs, but the film is no contender. Read full review
20
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Paints a surprisingly sour portrait of nearly all its characters, so much so that even the final-reel redemption rings hollow and forced. Read full review
0
New York PostLou Lumenick
Brain-dead political satire/tear-jerker. Read full review
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