EntertainmentExtraReview: 'Swing Vote' Flip Flops on ScreenReview: 'Swing Vote' Flip Flops on ScreenThe Associated PressAP Movie Critic Christy Lemire reviews 'Swing Vote' starring Kevin Costner. (Aug. 1)"Swing Vote" is guilty of being the same thing that so many political candidates accuse each other of being: a flip-flopper.The story of a presidential election that hinges on the vote of one guy does have its moments of hilarity. It works best when the two contenders are one-upping each other, contradicting themselves and their parties in saying whatever it takes to win over this one average Joe. But by the end, it turns painfully serious _ and it takes itself too seriously _ with swelling music and heavy-handed preaching to drive home some pretty obvious points. Kevin Costner produces and stars as Bud Johnson, a scruffy single dad who just got fired and is too drunk to remember to vote. His 12-year-old daughter, Molly (the tremendously poised Madeline Carroll), is wise beyond her years and keeps things functioning at the family trailer in dusty Texico, New Mexico.Molly also tries to cast her father's vote for president, but because of a machine malfunction, it doesn't count. the election is so tight, Bud's vote becomes the one that will decide the presidency. This turns him into an instant celebrity _ and sets up some amusing satire of the insatiable 24-hour news cycle. Kelsey Grammer co-stars as the Republican incumbent, Andrew Boone, with Stanley Tucci as the slick, ruthless mastermind behind his campaign. Meanwhile, Dennis Hopper is an inspired choice to play the Democratic challenger, with Nathan Lane as his campaign manager, a guy who's desperate to win after a career of losing. Despite the movie's obvious leanings to the left, director Joshua Michael Stern and co-writer Jason Richman deserve some credit for making the Republican president a decent, sympathetic figure and not a total buffoon. Costner, meanwhile, is essentially the same guy he's made a career of playing. He's a rumpled, selfish, washed-up former athlete (this time, the sport is football) but you know a kind heart will emerge eventually.It seems fitting that before he got fired, Bud worked as an inspector at an egg factory. He's got a yolky, gooey center, too.Til next time from Los Angeles, I'm Christy Lemire, AP movie critic
