Forgotten Film Friday: Dave

A review by Brooks Rich

Sometimes you watch a movie that is kind of forgotten and you think, how has this been forgotten? This cast is insane. 1993's Dave is a charming political comedy that has a serious cast for a film I don't think many people have seen. Directed by Ghostbuster director Ivan Reitman, this is a totally charming film that is worth a watch if you've missed it. It's not going to set the world on fire and I wouldn't call it a totally forgotten comedy classic, but it deserves to be more of a household name than it is.

Kevin Kline plays dual roles here as the titular Dave, a good-natured average man, and as President Bill Mitchell, who is cold and kind of an asshole. Dave is hired to be a stand-in for the president at a public event so the president can have an extramarital affair. When the president suffers a stroke and slips into a coma, Dave is given the stand in position permanently.

There's a lot more going on and at times Dave has the beats of a political thriller. This film could easily be rewritten as a straight drama. So the comedy and drama aspects of the film all work as they could both stand on their own. The main strength here is the performances of Kevin Kline, who creates two vastly different characters. Even with him being an Oscar winner, I don't think Kline gets enough credit for how brilliant of an actor he can be. He has great chemistry with Sigourney Weaver in this, who plays the First Lady, and their relationship feels real.

The rest of the case of course do a good job. Kline is the star of course but the ensemble supports him admirably. Ving Rhames is the main Secret Service agent protecting Dave. This film is a year before Pulp Fiction so he's about to break out. Kevin Dunn is a character actor who I always love to see, he's always playing a dad or supervisor or cabinet member, and I love shady Frank Langella in this. Also Ben Kingsley as the vice president works because of course, he does.

Dave is streaming on HBO Max right now. It's absolutely worth a watch.

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