CNN
—
As the nation and the world waits and watches for the results of the US presidential election this week, it’s safe to say that tensions may be running high.
As polls close and results begin trickling in, one great way to disengage while staying somewhat in the realm of politics is by revisiting this “election-lite” collection of titles that is sure to bring a smile to your face and hopefully a slight sigh of – at least temporary – relief.
Featuring a maniacally delightful Reese Witherspoon early in her career, this tour-de-force of a movie – which turned 25 this year – takes a school election for student body president and spins it into an ever-expanding paranoid delusion rife with scandal. Matthew Broderick’s chilling supporting performance as a teacher drawn up in it all is like the perfect antithesis to his happy-go-lucky truant teen in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” from the decade prior.
‘Red, White & Royal Blue’
Last year’s racy romance, based on the novel by Casey McQuiston, follows the First Son (Taylor Zakhar Perez) who becomes smitten with the son of the King of England (Nicholas Galitzine). The movie was so cheeky and popular, it just might lead to a sequel.
Speaking of children of the president, this 2004 comedy starred Katie Holmes as the titular daughter who must navigate college life and romance, while being followed by Secret Service agents and paparazzi. Look for Michael Keaton as POTUS.
Also from that innocent-in-retrospect era of the ’90s, this White House-set rom-com has Annette Bening as an environmental lobbyist falling in love with the president himself, played by Michael Douglas. Still charming, even if rather preposterous.
To file under ‘movies that would never ever get made today,’ this satirical comedy starring Warren Beatty and Halle Berry from 1998 follows a washed up politician who “takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters by affecting the rhythms and speech of hip-hop music and culture,” as the IMDb synopsis rightfully phrases it. Directed and cowritten by Beatty, the movie was nominated for a best original screenplay Oscar at the time.
This mistaken identity comedy has Kevin Kline pulling double duty as the president and his doppelganger who must stand in for him after a medical emergency. Costarring Sigourney Weaver, in top form as usual, as the First Lady who doesn’t care for her husband but finds herself drawn to his lookalike.
Watergate has been fertile ground for many an intriguing title, from back in the ’70s with “All the President’s Men” to just last year with “White House Plumbers,” but this entry from 1999 might just be the zaniest. The movie stars future Oscar-nominees Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst as ’70s hippie girls who unwittingly get ensnared in the scandal and with Nixon – played hilariously by “Clueless” star Dan Hedaya – himself.
