Dave (1993)

 This film is ridiculous, never could happen in real life but I certainly wish it could kind of film. 

The American President, Bill Mitchell (the lovable Kevin Kline) is an asshole, cheating on his lovely wife, Ellen (Sigourney Weaver), no coincidence, with that name. But more than that, he's corrupt, guilty of several crimes and cares about no one but himself, not even his cute corgis. But then, by some bizarre twist of fate, the secret service tracks down Dave Kovic (also Kevin Kline) who runs a temp agency and seems to beloved by all to be a fake President as he just so happens to be a lookalike. President Mitchell, instead of fulfilling his duties that he was elected to do, goes off to have sex with his mistress (Laura Linney) but instead, has a near fatal stroke. 

With machinations of his own, President Mitchell's Chief of Staff, Bob Alexander (Frank Langella), decides to let Dave continue to 'playing' the President so he can undermine both the President and the VP, Gary Nance (Ben Kingsley), outing them as part of the scandal involving campaign finance so he can become President. 

However, things don't exactly turn out like they've planned. The First Lady figures out that something has happened to her husband and Dave enlists his accountant friend to help solve saving some homeless shelters and then he decides to find a job for every American who wants a job. Naturally, he also forces Bob to resign which backfires but Dave comes up with a back-up plan, and fakes having a stroke so he can go back to his regular life, which is more or less what happens.

Yes, this is a bizarre love story as Dave falls in love Ellen who is far too good for Bill but it also a story of what a President should be, someone who actually cares for the American people, which is so different from what we currently have, some humanity and decency in the office. Despite the numerous laws broken, I wish this could happen in real life. Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-The VP really had nothing better to do than do go to Africa for a goodwill mission?

-Until Dave mentioned it, I thought he was a pro-bono attorney.

-I also found it surprising that Dave had been married but it didn't stick. He seems too nice for someone to have left him.