| WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT |
 2004 - USADirector: Donald Petrie - Reviewed by Vickie
And that’s meant to be a good thing. The root of the story is a comical, a David vs. Goliath mayoral race between recently retired and much-loved ex-president Monroe "Eagle" Cole (Gene Hackman) and local handyman Handy Harrison (Ray Romano) in the quaint town of Mooseport, Maine. With a popularity rating of 85% among his former constituents across the country, Cole’s a hot commodity in the post-presidential world of book deals, speaking engagements and commemorative libraries. He’s a sought-after property and a seeming shoo-in. But with a down-home charm and likability, not to mention knowing everyone in the town on a first-name basis, Handy’s a surprisingly formidable opponent. Colorful political wranglings aside, both men are also vying for the affections of town veterinarian Sally (Maura Tierney), who’s been dating Handy for six years but is growing tired of his inability to commit to their relationship. Newly arrived Cole gets one look at her and, whaddaya know!, suddenly finds a newfound interest in all things Mooseport. Handy gets one whiff of this romantic attraction and starts to get really nervous. Mooseport isn’t anything deep or profound, but it sure is fun. It provides some humorous jabs at the political process and, even better, the typical media mud-slinging and spin-doctoring that tends to happen when votes are going to be cast. Its simple premise is also buoyed by a terrific cast of supporting players. Marcia Gay Harden reminds us she can do comedy as Cole’s loyal top advisor, Grace, who tag-teams one-liners and comic gems with her subordinate, the perpetually nervous Bullard (Fred Savage). Christine Baranski strides onto the scene as Cole’s devilishly vindictive ex-wife, who’s angling for as big a post-divorce settlement as she can manage, and Rip Torn provides an appropriately smarmy presence as Cole’s veteran campaign manager. They’re all excellent and add flavor to characters that might otherwise have disappeared into the background. There are moments of implausible quirkiness that could only be found in a movie—witness the naked jogger who keeps popping up, so to speak, in the film—but the filmmakers wisely use those sparingly. Instead, they opt to infuse the proceedings with enough sweetness that Mooseport wins you over. Romano is surprisingly capable as a lovable oaf who’s just trying to get back the girl he loves, and Tierney (whose screen time is disappointingly limited) turns in yet another great-gal next door performance. Who wouldn’t love her? It won’t win any Oscars, but Welcome to Mooseport provides a refreshing set of laughs in the otherwise dark and dreary movie days of February and March. |
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Five years from now, Welcome to Mooseport will likely be one of
those oft-repeated movies that run on stations like TBS over and over
again. It’s funny, cute and kind of charming, and has a Groundhog
Day/Sleepless in Seattle/Uncle Buck vibe to it... which is to say,
you’ll probably see it often but never really grow completely tired of
it.
