You give me Steve Carell, Rose Byrne, and Jon Stewart in a political comedy that takes place in Wisconsin; I’d say “sign me up” pretty quickly. Throw in Chris Cooper and Mackenzie Davis in supporting roles and you’ve got a pretty solid line up that should succeed. But still, the film wants to send message and ends up tanking the entire story in the process.
When Cooper’s left leaning, retired colonel, Jack Hastings goes viral after a passionate speech at a city council meeting, Carell’s Gary Zimmer heads to the rural town of Deerlaken to recruit him for a mayoral race in efforts to help the Democrats gain ground in the battleground state. Republicans dispatch Faith Brewster (Byrne) , setting up a duel where neither of the political sharks are in familiar waters.
Jon Stewart flexes his political chops in the director’s chair but its all for nothing with this script. The rest of the cast is bank, but given the talent we have on board, that shouldn’t be a surprise. The laughs aren’t exactly next level but enough to entertain. It’s okay. Natasha Lyonne and Topher Grace are also welcomed surprises. It gets a lot about politics right.
But the end product ultimately unsatisfying.
The decisions made with the story don’t make any sense and throws everything strong the production is trying to accomplish right out the window. It tries to be a fable for a culture that is burnt out sensationalism but executes it’s plan in such a poor fashion, it ruins the film.
Yes, this story takes place in Wisconsin. I’m typing this from Green Bay. But it was shot in Georgia and aside from a couple of region-centric mentions it could have taken place anywhere.
Irresistible is a disappointment. That’s unfortunate. We might never see this ensemble together again.
Irresistible:
Grade: D
Rated: R
Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes