User Reviews

Genuine honest review: Jon Stewart is always going to deliver a harsh reality. An entertaining film with enough giggles in. A lovely cast of very fine actors. Well written and well directed.

This was always going to be a left leaning film until you then realise it isn't. Hard for either side of the stale debate to shout unfair.

I enjoyed the ride but felt like I could have done with more of a rollercoaster. I felt it remained a little safe. It didn't spoil the film but prevented a higher rating.

The final act was an interesting take on the story. You could call it a twist. And the message did hit home. But I am sick to death of knowing this message and yet still NOTHING gets done to fix things. But back to the film...

This is an enjoyable film with laughs and a serious message. Worth watching just for the scene near the end where the cake is eaten on the bed. Made me laugh. I recommend this film. I recommend it to the LEFT and the RIGHT. To people who still Want to care...

I'm glad that I didn't fall for the low rate and the 5 stars ppl gave this movie, It would've been a loss not to see this grear movie

This is the brainchild of Jon Stewart who wrote and directed. A small conservative community in Wisconsin is holding an election and the Washington based political consultants decide that they will enlist the local ex-Marine and farmer as the opponent of the incumbent, and run as a Democrat.

There is a line in the movie, "This system, the way we elect people, it's terrifying. And exhausting. And I think it's driving us all insane." And that is pretty well how I feel, especially every 4 years when presidential elections come around. And this movie makes fun of that.

Overall a very good watch, my wife and I enjoyed it at home on DVD from our public library. There is a significant "twist" near the end which makes it all even more absurd.

The story was well written and conceived. The acting was mediocre too good at best. What I really liked about this movie is that it showed how screwed up our elections and everything to do with them is manipulated by the media, individuals, and politicians. The idea of super PACs there's a giant black hole that could be manipulated at will. We need a better election system in this country in this movie access point that out in a dramatic comedical manner

At first I was thinking what kind of movie it's going to be, because Steve Carell is amazing actor in both comedy and serious movies(I hate watching trailers, I let film to surprise me by itself). After all, it was a serious movie with some sarcasm and comedy scenes which I liked. Main plot was interesting, I loved that they didn't speak a lot about Donald Trump or others politicians(as 90% films do). It surprised me in a good, ending was really unpredictable,film name had deep meaning, it's just good movie for a night. I would really recommend to watch it. Top 10 movies of 2020 for me so far.

If you judge this movie by the trailer, then you'll think that this movie is a laugh-a-minute comedy film about a mayoral race... what this movie ACTUALLY is, is a drama about the workings that drive an election... It's not a comedy, as I only laughed once in the whole movie, so don't expect it to be funny...

The concept/story of the movie IS interesting though, I have to say... the execution of it though could absolutely have been done better. Around 1hour into the movie, the story derails and takes a huge detour which was done for comedic effect, yet resulted in absolutely no laughs... and when the movie resumes its original course again, you're just left sitting there and asking: "WTF was that? Was that really necessary?".

Overall it's a 5/10 movie, with an 8/10 concept, and if it was executed better, then it could easily have been a 8/10 movie simply because of how good the concept is. So I wouldn't really recommend that you watch the movie, unless you're just looking for a 2hour drama to keep your eyeballs occupied for a while... and like I said, don't expect any laughs since you'll only get 1 or 2.

Those who expect Jon Stewart's political comedy to be a left-wing screed will be either disappointed or relieved. This satire is truly as "fair and balanced" as certain others deceptively claim to be. It's a gutshot to our entire electoral system, showing both sides of The Aisle to be equally guilty, guilty, guilty.

Steve Carell stars as a seasoned Democratic political strategist who finds a viral You Tube clip of a small town man (Chris Cooper) in Wisconsin, making a stirring speech for the rights of others in a city hall meeting, opposing the pompous mayor and his council.. He learns that the folksy, yet eloquent fellow is a veteran and farmer, which is just what his party needs to start winning back blue-collar and rural Midwestern voters. He knows The Party and Cooper have matching values and beliefs, even though the town and state have been voting Republican.

Carell, a city guy who's (often hilariously) out of his element when trying to fit it there, rushes to the town to convince Cooper to run for mayor, breaking the Republicans' lock on the area and state. He wants Cooper to become the new face of the party. Cooper reluctantly agrees. A Republican operative (Rose Byrne), who's Carell's counterpart and frequent nemesis, sees the threat Cooper poses to their hold on that part of the base, and storms in with her minions to help the mayor keep his seat. Both parties smell a potential national impact from this minor race, and start pouring huge dollars into the fray, cranking up all the donors and tactics usually reserved for bigger stages. Both sides seem comparably desperate, and completely out of touch with the locals they're trying to woo.

This film has all the wit and cynicism of political satires akin to 1997's brilliant Wag the Dog, or earlier efforts from A Face in the Crowd and Manchurian Candidate on the dramatic side to comedies like Bulworth and Primary Colors. Both sides court a demographic group they little understand. Both are classic fish out of water who take far too long to realize how misguided their entire approach to elections has become. Various tactics either seem to work only in the short run, or backfire - sometimes spectacularly.

The wisdom of those "regular people" is greater than the Beltway Insiders understand. The clever plot delivers laughs, poignancy and a genuinely satisfying resolution. We meet a town of good people, not a bunch of rubes to be bought or manipulated by outsiders. Everyone grows wiser and more understanding of others by the end. We can all learn while we laugh at an extremely timely tale like this.

The movie is just fine. You want to see what will happen at the end. But you're in for a very nice ending. It's a easy movie to watch and enjoy.

Ahhh. Now I'm just writing to reach minimum of 150 characters.

I get the point if the film. That's fine. But overall it just was not very funny. I expected more from Steve Carell. His other show space force was pretty funny. Not this one.

Honestly I don't turn off movies or shows ever, if I do I finish them the next day. I was very close to turning this one off a couple of times.

This movie is exceptionally well paced, written, and acted. It's a charming, funny, and entertaining story while bringing in scary facts about our election system and placing the blame squarely on both party's shoulders. If you're concerned about the movie having a left lean b/c of John Stewart you shouldn't be too worried. He is more concerned w/ pointing out the ridiculousness of the entire election system and how both parties capitalize off of it then "pushing a liberal agenda". Very entertaining and educational!

Regardless which country you are from, the elections, the procedures and the methods are nothing more but to fool people and how one, who ever that one is benefits.

Steve Carell, well a fine actor he is, beautifully, covered with little jokes and laughs has given such a strong message.

Do watch it, by the end, there will be a smile, a big one.

The twist at the end was mildly interesting, but it wasn't worth sitting through the first 90 minutes. With all that "star power" they were still unable to make a movie that wasn't dreadfully dull and as compelling as, well, American politics. Is this art imitating life or the inverse?

This film seems to have been met with a slightly lukewarm reception, and I can see why because it is a political satire from Jon Stewart and as such it is fair to expect it to have the sharp rage and teeth that his best material did back in TDS days. The truth is that the film doesn't have that, and if you expect it then maybe that is a problem. However the film comes out in a world where every tweet is political, every comedian is overwhelmed with Presidential madness to work with, and generally speaking we are all overwhelmed with scandal and outrage, so maybe a film adding to that endless scream isn't something we needed?

Irresistible certainly is not that scream, even though it goes after money in politics pretty well. With a very 'Local Hero' vibe, big money politics are dropped into a mayoral race, and the big smart political activist has to deal with simple hicks. The jokes mostly dig at the political class being clueless, rather than the local people, and it is all reasonably obvious and gently mocking. It isn't great, and it has a few moments that fall flat, but most of it is gently funny and engaging for what it is. I'm unlikely to remember it for long, or to revisit it in the future, but it was gentle fun and it was nice to be reminded of a time when politics was just a mess, not the catastrophe it currently is.

Is it me or is this the exact same movie as Welcome to Mooseport with Ray Romano and Gene Hackman?

Steve Carell is the big politician from Washingtonike Gene Hackman and Chris Cooper is the small town local man who randomly runs for mayor like Ray Romano. Instead of Mooseport, the town is now called Deerlocken.

Soooooo not a Moose but a Deer.

Both movies have a huge political figure from Washington goes to a small town to have a local person run for mayor. The small town people have little quirks that everyone makes fun of and they use to capitalize in their campaigns.

The movie does however slap the corruption of politicians in the face and has a positive message to spend more time helping people and using money to help our country and less time pleasing donors and raising money for pointless campaigns; regardless of your party affiliation.

It has a lot of pretty famous actors playing cliche roles and the movie is cliche as a whole. It has some heartwarming scenes and comedy throughout.

Nonetheless, it's still Welcome To Mooseport 2.

I like a good cynical political drama. But the movie itself is about average for its genre and to me it seemed to put a lot of effort into appearing impartial to the two major parties of the US, and too little time on having a direction.

When the movie revealed its moral I was in disbelief and honestly disappointed - and the end credit interview didn't help as it was unclear and highly rhetorical. It could've been so much more, I thought.

There's a lot of political topics I think would be more interesting to tackle with a political comedy. Gerrymandering, alternative electoral systems, power dynamics vs. Morality etc.

It may be harsh for me to say, but it feels to me like Jon Stewart might be a little bit stuck in his writing, even though it's definitely a noteworthy feat to make a decently entertaining movie when that's not usually his scene.

Tolerable but a bit long.

The best message in this Jon Stewart directed movie is how he exposes the gruff myopic claptrap in politics.

The plot was maybe stretched out. Altogether a watchable movie. The Steve Carell character became boring.

It's an easy watch considering the topic being politics. It's fun, comical and surprisingly addictive. SC is a fabulous actor and makes this whole film work. Worth a watch. I don't you will be disappointed.

A very slow burn with a story you feel you've seen 100 times before, but when it finally gets where it's going it has a refreshing twist and decent commentary on elections.

Good idea but I wish you didn't have to wait an hour for the movie to pick up.

To be honest I might have issues to find really good people on one side. At least on the political aspects of the whole thing. And if you're honest, than the character portrayed by Byrne is effectively more evil overall. That being said, Steve Carrell also has a lot of moments, where he has to apologize.

And the movie tells us how wrong the two party system is, it shows how it takes advantage of people and then spits them out once it is done with them And that is true with almost all politicians. I personally think someone like Bernie Sanders is different, but that is my personal opinion. And overall you should be able to enjoy this, no matter what political affiliation you have. And maybe even reflect on some things you believed were true and rearrange your opinion on those things or something else

As a citizen of the Badger State, I found the depiction of our people inaccurate and offensive, and it takes a lot to offend us. Cheeseheads don't say "y'all"! We don't sound like hillbillies. We're not a bunch of yokels. The only redeeming virtue is that the politicians look just as bad, and Mark Zimmer is the personification of the "sophisticated" urbanite with a huge superiority omplex.

A wonderfully scathing take on the political campaign system in America, regardless of party, and how it hurts the entire country, but especially small towns that are completely ignored except during election season.

And be sure to watch through the credits for a further reality check.

It does feel like it's a bit of a throwback and would be the sort of movie you'd see in the early 2010's. For a comedy, "Irresistible" simply is not funny, while it is utterly forgettable. The humor, in general, is too broad and feels flat. With such a cast, director and production, a golden opportunity is wasted. The ending is anticlimactic and slightly condescending. While movie timing is perfect - with the tense US political climate - it's just a shame that film is so average and without expected or proper 'punch'.

Rating: 6-

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If someone asks me what I would entirely remove from the world to make it a better place, my answer would either be politics or religion. Both are necessary in their own way, but all I see is lies, corruption, racism, war, death, and so on. Therefore, I'm not a fan of political movies, even when these are meant to be satires or just a light-hearted flick for families to enjoy. That said, I really liked Jon Stewart's talk show, and Steve Carell is one of those actors who's always able to make me laugh no matter what. So, I decided to give this one a go...

I have very mixed feelings, but probably not the ones most people will share with one another. Being from Portugal (an European country with a wholly different process of election) and having close to zero interest in politics, I struggled with completely understanding America's way of campaigning and voting, which is kind of one of the points the film eventually makes: the system isn't the best one. Ironically, one of the best parts is somewhat connected to one of my major issues. The last fifteen to twenty minutes play out a genuinely smart idea, even if it's logically ludicrous, but it made me want the entire film to explore it.

From the very beginning until the start of these last few minutes, it's a pretty straightforward political-comedy with nothing being remotely unique or groundbreaking. I didn't even chuckle at most of the jokes, and when I did, it was more due to the actor's performance than the joke on itself. Irresistible follows a formulaic cycle of events, where Democrats and Republicans constantly get the upper hand on each other with an extra move after the other. Honestly, it gets tiresome and dull at a certain point.

This is how those last minutes that I addressed above relate to this issue: I wish that the movie had explored that final idea instead of saving it for a plot twist that was far from mind-blowing. Yes, it's an entirely unrealistic idea in the sense that it's impossible for it to actually happen without someone screwing it up. However, I rather have a film with a bold yet nonsensical concept boasting a really impactful message than saving this portion to be the ending of a cheesy, cliche, unfunny, and not that entertaining political satire.

Honestly, without the extraordinary cast, Irresistible would have been a total disaster. Steve Carell, as expected, carries the whole thing to safe harbor. I always loved his mannerisms and expressions, even when some people find them over-the-top or unnecessary. I just can't not like one of his performances. He perfectly captures the "man from the capital" persona, someone who doesn't know how to deal with the hospitality of Rural America or how to talk to Deerlaken's people or even what to order at a bar.

Chris Cooper delivers a phenomenal display as Jack Hastings, the Democrat's candidate. His will to save his town and his love for everyone who lives in it takes him through the crooked path of politics, but without ever giving up on what he truly believes in. He doesn't want to lie, he doesn't want to play like everyone else plays, he just wants to be himself. Mackenzie Davis returns to her good performances (loved in Terminator: Dark Fate, but The Turning was a terrible mistake in her career), by playing the not-that-innocent daughter, Diana Hastings.

Finally, I like Rose Byrne, but her character's relationship with Gary Zimmer is also one of my biggest problems with the movie. They're the most annoying part of it all. Extremely cliche, not funny at all, and the dialogues become so exaggeratedly improvised. Their banter continuously unbalances the tone. This type of toxic yet sexy relationship has been seen so many times now that it genuinely becomes incredibly irritating. Jon Stewart clearly needs some notes so that next time, he knows how to distinguish a feature film from a talk show's sketch.

Irresistible owns a bold, intelligent idea that despite being unrealistically absurd, it carries an impactful message that I'd love to have seen explored in a deeper level, and not just in the last fifteen minutes. Jon Stewart's movie is at its best when making subtle little jokes about important real-life themes like racism, immigration, gun violence, political corruption, and more, showing the audience how some people foolishly react in certain situations. However, if it weren't for an outstanding Steve Carell and an exceptional cast, this film would have been a trainwreck. With a formulaic narrative lacking effective humor and unique characterization, Irresistible struggles to be remotely entertaining. It also features such a cliche, annoying relationship between two characters that made me roll my eyes and sigh way too often. A comedy that barely makes me chuckle about an activity I sincerely hate... It didn't work for me, but if you enjoy this subgenre, go for it. It's still far from being an awful movie.

Rating: C