Toothless satire punctuated by the occasional biting gag, in which an unknown black alderman is cynically tapped to run a doomed presidential race against a heavily favored incumbent. The model for all such inspirational political comedies about naive idealists and their rude awakenings is Frank Capra's MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939), but in the vulgar world of 21st-century influence peddling, sacred cows need much sharper skewering than they get here. Mays Gilliam (Rock) represents Washington, D.C.'s poor and overwhelmingly black ninth ward, where his quixotic attempts to serve his constituents earn him only ridicule. In short order he's dumped by his mercenary...
Released:
2003
Rated:
PG-13
Length:
95 mins