Themes: On the Campaign Trail, Small-Town Life, Love Triangles
Main Cast: Gene Hackman, Ray Romano, Marcia Gay Harden, Maura Tierney, Christine Baranski
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Hollywood filmmaker Donald Petrie directs the comedy Welcome to Mooseport. Gene Hackman stars as former U.S. President Monroe "The Eagle" Cole. He's retired to the small New England town of Mooseport, ME, in order to write his memoirs and relax. The retirement is put on hold, however, when he's persuaded to run for mayor of the town. Meanwhile, local hardware store owner and plumber Handy Harrison (Ray Romano) is just the sort of plaid-shirted everyman to run against him. Cole seems a sure win in the race, especially with his loyal personal assistants (Marcia Gay Harden and Fred Savage) aiding his every move. The competition gets even more severe when Handy's sweetheart Sally (Maura Tierney) comes between the two men. Welcome to Mooseport also stars Christine Baranski and Rip Torn. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
A creaky film vehicle for popular TV star Ray Romano, Welcome to Mooseport is a blandly genial comedy with a weak premise and such safe, edgeless execution that it feels like mediocre television, despite the presence of such talents as Gene Hackman and Marcia Gay Harden. Featuring a mayoral race in a small town between a vain, but essentially good-hearted, former president (Hackman) and a spineless, nebbishy, but essentially decent, plumber (Romano), the movie is devoid of cutting characterizations and sharp dialogue. The tone of the film's attempt at comedic local color is set with the opening shot of an elderly man's buttocks as he jogs nude down Mooseport's main street. Things don't pick up much from there in terms of supporting characters, which include those mainstays of lazy comedy writing, a foul-mouthed old lady, and a fat, sassy black woman. The film is supposed to take place in rural Maine, but never generates any real sense of time or place. Worse yet, while it may have been a satire in some earlier, edgier incarnation, this is a movie about politics that doesn't have any. Romano is reasonably ingratiating on his sitcom, and the character he plays in the film -- friendly, but immature, and full of self-doubt -- isn't much of a stretch. Maura Tierney is an appealing actress, but the problem, again, as with Harden and Hackman, is that no one has anything particularly interesting to say. Welcome to Mooseport is a generally inoffensive trifle, but the superior cast leaves one longing for something a little better. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Fred Savage - Bullard; Rip Torn - Langdon, Bert; June Squibb - Irma; Wayne Robson - Morris Gutman; John Rothman - Stu; Karl Pruner - Dyer; Edward Herrmann - Debate Moderator
Credit
Michael Shocrylas - Art Director, David Holden - Associate Producer, Georgianne Walken - Casting, Sheila Jaffe - Casting, Robin D. Cook - Casting, Vicki Graef - Costume Designer, Lee Cleary - First Assistant Director, Donald Petrie - Director, Debra Neil-Fisher - Editor, Moritz Borman - Executive Producer, Doug Richardson - Executive Producer, David Coatsworth - Executive Producer, Rory Rosegarten - Executive Producer, Steven Brown - Line Producer, John Debney - Composer (Music Score), David Chapman - Production Designer, Victor Hammer - Cinematographer, Tom Schulman - Producer, Marc Frydman - Producer, Basil Iwanyk - Producer, David Lee - Sound/Sound Designer, Peter Shewchuk - Sound/Sound Designer, Doug Richardson - Screen Story, Tom Schulman - Screenwriter, Steven Brown - Additional Cinematography, Glen Keenan - Second Unit Camera, Cameron Frankley - Supervising Sound Editor, Gordon Sim - Set Decorator
Michael Beugg Steven Brown(line producer)
David Coatsworth
Rory Rosegarten Doug Richardson Moritz Borman (executive producer)
Marc Frydman Tom Schulman
Basil Iwanyk (producer)
David Holden (associate producer)
Hackman plays Monroe "Eagle" Cole, former President of the United States who retires to his vacation home in the town of Mooseport, Maine to escape the clutches of ex-wife Charlotte Cole (Christine Baranski). Romano plays Harold 'Handy' Harrison, the local plumber of Mooseport, who also owns a hardware store.
Following the death of the town mayor, the town council decides to approach former president Cole about running for the office. Cole agrees because, as it turns out, if he holds the office, his Mooseport house can serve as his office and, therefore, can no longer be divided up or sold off in his divorce settlement. Unbeknownst to Harrison, his name has also been entered into the race. When Harrison finds out Cole is running, he decides to step down, until he notices an unwitting Cole make a pass at Harrison's girlfriend of six years, veterinarian Dr. Sally Mannis (Maura Tierney), who recently broke up with him because he was taking the relationship too slow and had not yet proposed marriage to her. Handy believes that, by becoming mayor, he can show Sally he is a responsible decision maker and win her back.
Tensions rise following the arrival of ex-wife and Cole campaign spoiler Charlotte. Cole's team, led by long-time executive secretary and eventual love interest Grace Sutherland (Marcia Gay Harden) and presidential aide Will Bullard (Fred Savage), bring in the big guns in the form of campaign strategist Bert Langdon (Rip Torn) to get Cole elected mayor. As the campaigns progress, Cole and Harrison each become obsessed with winning the race at all (comedic) costs, although Harrison refuses to resort to any dirty tricks, making Cole realize that in all his years of running for elections this may be his toughest as he is taking on an honest man.
Eventually, on the night before the election, both candidates (for different reasons - Cole is trying to get sympathy votes, Harrison to just end it all and get on with his life) urge the voters to vote for the other candidate by saying that neither of them will vote for themselves. Harrison fulfills his promise, but Cole votes for himself anyways. Upon the revelation that Cole won by one vote, his conscience gets the better of him and he concedes the match to Harrison. However, Harrison lies that he voted for himself as well, so Cole ends up as mayor once again. Harrison then reveals to Sally that he conceded the election because Cole needs the mayorship more than he does and that all he really wanted was to propose marriage to her, which he does. As Handy is proposing to Sally, Monroe also proposes to Grace. The film ends with Bert Langdon telling Handy that he ran an excellent campaign and offers to be his campaign manager for Governor of Maine, which Handy jokingly shows some interest in.
Box Office Performance
The movie had a worldwide gross of just over $14 million on a budget of $30 million.
