Very well executed

Pretty Good

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Even with Rob Reiner's name attached, "The American President" is an Aaron Sorkin movie; I don't mean just his superb dialogue, but it seems fair to say that it feels like "The West Wing" as a romantic comedy (i.e. right up my alley). The president's painted as an actual person, while still paying deference to the office. As political as this is, it's still a patriotic movie. The music swells at just the right moments, the ideas espoused have resonance, and you just get sucked into it.I'll be honest, with Martin Sheen in the cast, they could've gotten anyone to play the commander-in-chief and I'd still be a fan. But as Hollywood presidents go, Michael Douglas is a great one.7/10

The first review I read here called parts of it "sickly sweet", but I would have to disagree with that. There is no sickly to this movie, but yes it is sweet in parts. You can't have a love story without it...the reviewer also said there wasn't much political insight to the movie, but I would have to again disagree. Arbitrarily I would give about 45 or 50% to the political aspect. Michael Douglas and Richard Dreyfuss both give excellent performances to their respective characters. Andrew Shepherd (Douglas) is the laid back, yet intensely serious President (Democrat) who lost his wife shortly before his election, and all through the movie has to deal with a variety of national issues as well as a foreign one. One of the best lines in the film is when Shepherd and his advisors are talking about an air strike he ordered the day before that obliterated a Libyan military office building in downtown Tripoli, after ensuring they hit it when the least amount of people were in the building. After one of the advisors says his actions are very presidential, Shepherd responds that some janitor was probably cleaning up, not knowing he had just ordered the man killed..."That was the least presidential thing I do." A very poignant moment indeed, and an excellent insight into the inner turmoil any president must feel in those kinds of circumstances.Senator Bob Rumson (Dreyfuss) (Yes, a Republican), meanwhile, is actively campaigning for a presidential election coming up. He latches onto a political tactic of attacking the current presidents budding relationship with Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), a political activist who slowly falls in love with Shepherd. Without describing every minute, the relationship plays a significant part in the story certainly, but the life of a president also peeks through all throughout the movie. The speech President Shepherd delivers in a press conference in defense of Sidney as well as his own presidency is in my mind genius, and is the crowning achievement of the movie. It was perfectly scripted and delivered...if the movie doesn't quite live up to political reality, it does come close indeed. It has heavy weight supporting cast, as well as carefully selected secondary supporting cast. It is simply an excellent 2 1/2 hours, and I watch it every time I can.

I've had this movie in my library for a long time and recently viewed it for the 1st time in about 5 years. The base story is a cute little romance with some comedy elements thrown in. Even the very clichéd character portrayals as all Democrats good and all Republicans bad is tolerable, even though some of the depictions are really nonsensical. I can accept this somewhat as it comes from Rob Reiner who has talent but continues to let his artistic endeavors get heavily tainted by his childish and buffoonish life outlook.The acting is universally good and the nonpolitical portions of the script were very well done. But in the end the movie is completely undone by the loony toony pronouncements by the characters as to what cataclysmic results await us in 10 years if we don't toe the proper Al Gore line on global warming or whatever we're calling it now. It's 20 years down the road and were all still here and doing fine.The only value to watching this movie now is to realize the extent of the liberal nonsense that was routinely included in movies in the 90s. Today, at least they make an attempt to incorporate their agenda in a little more sophisticated manner. This movie is now hopeless for anybody with a brain.

Okay, without a doubt this is one of my favorite romantic comedies. Michael Douglas comes off as Presidential, Annette Benning is spectacular, Martin Sheen is exceptional, and the supporting cast is marvelous. And this is all directed by Rob Reiner, the 2nd generation actor writer director who understands every aspect of film making and is not afraid to let loose with all the knowledge, power and presence required to make a first class film. Of particular note are David Paymer, Michael J. Fox, and Anna Deavere Smith, all three exceptional character actors whose contributions add so much to the texture and tone of the film. Paymer is the perfect foil to Fox, and Anna balances them perfectly, giving a unity to the staff presence in the film. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the film is the incorporation of 'normal' events in the White House during the romance. We are not excluded or merely "clued in", but we participate in all the activities of the President, which makes the film more realistic and visceral. The flow of the film is exceptional, since there are no explosions or other violence to distract us, and the cinematography is amazing. The sets are perfect. Rated PG-13 for a scene of sexual innuendo and a few uses of profanity, this film is far from offensive in its delivery, its demeanor, or its presentation. A classic which will enhance any collection.