Our review:Description:The world's most powerful man has met his match! Michael Douglas is the widower President wooing environmental lobbyist Annette Bening in this romantic hit by Rob Reiner.
DVD Features:Interactive MenusProduction NotesScene AccessTheatrical Trailer
Amazon.com essential video:What sounds like the high-concept romantic comedy pitch from hell--widower president falls for smart lobbyist while the world watches--is actually intelligent, charming, touching, and quite funny. Granted, it's wish fulfillment all the way (when was the last time you saw a president who was
truly presidential?), but in the capable hands of writer Aaron Sorkin (TV's
Sports Night) and director Rob Reiner,
The American President is incredibly enjoyable entertainment with quite a few ideas about both romance and the government. Michael Douglas stars as the president, who after three years in office starts thinking about the possibility of dating. When he auspiciously encounters cutthroat environmental lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), sparks begin to crackle and the two begin a tentative but heartfelt romance. Of course, his job gets in the way--their first kiss is interrupted by a Libyan bombing--but darn it if these two kids aren't going to try and make it work! However, they hadn't counted on the president's Republican antagonist (Richard Dreyfuss), who starts carping about family values. The predictable plot--Douglas finally goes to bat for his lady and his country--is leavened by Sorkin's wonderful, snappy dialogue and a light touch from the usually subtle-as-a-sledgehammer Reiner. Both manage to create a believable White House-office atmosphere (with a crack staff including Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Anna Deavere Smith, and Samantha Mathis) as well as a plausible and funny dating scenario. The true success of the movie, though, rides squarely on Douglas and Bening; this is unequivocally Douglas's best comedic performance (ergo his best performance, period) and Bening, usually such a good bad girl, takes a standard career-woman role and fleshes it out magnificently. You can see in an instant why Douglas would fall for her. One of the best unsung romantic comedies of the '90s.
--Mark Englehart
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Buyer Testimonials
Average Buyer's Review:
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Fine actors, poor movie
All these actors have distinguished themselves in many other roles and Sorkin has written some great tv (West Wing, anyone?), which is why it is sad to say that this is a poor film. Some good lines of dialogue cannot cover the preposterousness of the story, with a president too liberal for conservatives and sometimes too conservative for liberals!! It swerves too much and really only gets going in the last five minutes. In fact, it ends JUST as it was about to get really freakin' interesting!!
Buyer's review: 
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American President
We had this movie in VCR and were very glad to find it in DVD. We love this movie. The price was good and shipping was very quick. Thank you
Buyer's review: 
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2.5 stars out of 4
The Bottom Line:
If you like a movie that hides its formulaic nature and hackneyed situations behind high-class actors and the occasional witty clip, The American President is the movie for you; almost everything done well in this mediocre film was done better in the West Wing.
Buyer's review: 
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Good movie but dishonest Warner Brothers
First I liked the movie. If you like a romantic comedy then this is good one. You must put aside any idea that it has any basis in reality. It is the expected hollywood version of the US government. If you are a liberal than you are heaven sent and if you are conservative than you are a hellbound devil who's only interest is destroying the country and starving children and old folk. In this film, you have a ultr-liberal director and the only conservative voice in the film is a monster and played by Richard Dreyfuss who has never had a conservative thought. So if you can get past the extreme bias in the film and not take it too seriously, you might enjoy it. My rating is not about the movie, it is about the distribution of the DVD by Warner Brothers. They have released three verions of the film....kind of. The first version released ten years ago indicated the film was not in enhanced widescreen. It had a poor image but was that was very common as DVDs were first coming to the marketplace. The two followup releases have claimed to be ENHANCED FOR WIDESCREEN TV...BUT WERE NOT. One version had an outer sleave that claimed this, but the actual case did not while the most recent version puts ENHANCED right on the disc insert. Both of these version are the same old version previously released. I would like to believe that this is a mistake, but it occurs too often for this to be true. What is likely more accurate is the WB intentionally mislabels the disc packaging so that owners of the old disce will buy it again, and since once it is opened it cannot be returned....FRUAD profits for WB. WB lies about the product and we simply get ripped off.
Buyer's review: -
The American President
Wonderful movie! I purchased this for my daughter so she wouldn't take my copy!