Jack Lemmon and, in the Walter Matthau role, James Garner, are grumpy old presidents, bitter political rivals who are forced by the formulaic plot to buddy up when current chief executive Dan Aykroyd frames them in a kickback/murder conspiracy. The audience goodwill that these beloved actors have accrued over the years tries to carry this film, which plays like a sitcom. The jokey script reaches its nadir when the two argue over who was more popular by tallying assassination attempts on their lives. When all else fails, Lemmon is called upon to swear. And any film that wastes Lauren Bacall in a thankless role deserves to be voted out of office. Not a necessary purchase. (K. Lee Benson)
My Fellow Americans
(Warner, 101 min., PG-13, avail. June 17) Vol. 12, Issue 3
My Fellow Americans
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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