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The Rewatchables ·

Dave

year 1993decade 90sdirector Ivan Reitmangenre Drama
host Bill Simmonshost Sean Fennesseyhost Amanda Dobbins
All 15 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 20:31

Ving Rhames's 'I would have taken a bullet for you' farewell

Six nominees are offered, starting with the scene when Dave becomes Mitchell's stand-in, is taught the part, runs into the guy and then goes out and does God Bless America; it has the right dramatic tone and is really fun.

Second is the montage when President Mitchell is feeling better, with the 'I once caught a fish this big' moment, the early-nineties shows like the McGoughlin group (as transcribed) and real senators weighing in, nicely edited and finishing with the first pitch at the Orioles game at Camden Yards, probably shot right before a real game started; third is Dave fixing the budget in four minutes, one of a host's favorite scenes in movie history.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 59:03

"Why can't you die from a stroke like everyone else?"

Nominated lines: 'why can't you die from a stroke like everyone else?', 'you're a flea, you're a blip', the exchange 'I'm going to kill him / you can't kill a president / he's not a president, he's an ordinary person, I could kill an ordinary person, I could kill a hundred ordinary people', and then the speech.

The film

Dave (1993)

Directed by Ivan Reitman · Drama

110 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Kevin Kline Dave Kovic/President William Harrison Mitchell
Sigourney Weaver Ellen Mitchell
Frank Langella Bob Alexander
Kevin Dunn Alan Reed
Ving Rhames Duane Stevenson
Ben Kingsley Vice President Gary Nance
Charles Grodin Murray Blum
Faith Prince Alice
Laura Linney Randi
Tom Dugan Jerry
Stephen Root Don Durenberger
Ralph Manza White House Barber
Bonnie Hunt White House Tour Guide
Anna Deavere Smith Mrs. Travis
Charles Hallahan Policeman
Stefan Gierasch House Majority Leader

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

20:31

Most Rewatchable Scene

Ving Rhames's 'I would have taken a bullet for you' farewell; the traffic stop where Dave and the First Lady sing 'To...

Ving Rhames's 'I would have taken a bullet for you' farewell; the traffic stop where Dave and the First Lady sing 'Tomorrow'

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:31Read transcript
  • Six nominees are offered, starting with the scene when Dave becomes Mitchell's stand-in, is taught the part, runs into the guy and then goes out and does God Bless America; it has the right dramatic tone and is really fun.
  • Second is the montage when President Mitchell is feeling better, with the 'I once caught a fish this big' moment, the early-nineties shows like the McGoughlin group (as transcribed) and real senators weighing in, nicely edited and finishing with the first pitch at the Orioles game at Camden Yards, probably shot right before a real game started; third is Dave fixing the budget in four minutes, one of a host's favorite scenes in movie history.
  • Fourth is Dave firing Bob and giving the speech about his new jobs initiative, which is called a little flimsy and, for the record, a pitch for socialism; fifth is his last speech and the stroke, with the party where everybody leaves, an amazing five minutes.
  • The 'I would have taken a bullet for you' farewell is made its own scene and is one host's most rewatchable, getting this host every time: two guys reaching that Shawshank beach-hug place, with Ving Ramsey (as transcribed) going from not even eating the sandwich Dave made him to saying he would have taken a bullet; a second voice notes once again listening to the guys talk about men not expressing their emotions.
  • Another nominee is when Dave and Sigourney Weaver are pulled over by the cops, Dave does the club med routine and they sing Tomorrow; her voice is bad on purpose, the cop flashing the flashlight in Kevin Kline's eyes and the 'I'm okay' keep-singing beat have perfect comedic timing, and a host who basically hates live singing picks it as a favorite scene and sticks with it over the montage despite the arms-up moment on the mound.
  • The children's homeless shelter visit, Dave sitting down to talk to the little kid and telling the press 'guys, not now', is a nominee but not a pick; it is hokey yet works, you have to be a great actor to keep it from seeming schmaltzy, and Robin Williams would have botched it with handkerchiefs everywhere; a host goes with 'I would have taken a bullet for you', or the four-minute budget fix if the farewell is not considered a scene.
  • The budget scene is walked through: delinquent defense contracts saving 23 million a month, the need to reach 650 million to save the homeless, the 47 million car marketing campaign to make people feel better about a car they already bought, and the carry-over-the-two 656 finish; the clip of 'I don't want to tell some eight-year-old kid that he's got to sleep in the street' is played, and the cabinet ends up shaking his hand saying 'Mr. President, well done, sir'.
  • Asked whether balancing the budget could really be this easy if the pork were stripped out of every bill in Congress, the answer is yes but that it sounds like every person on talk radio and you only pick your own causes; cutting money to help the homeless is agreed to be a good thing, there is doubt whether a real campaign to make people feel better about their cars ever existed, and a host whose husband recently got a new car has been performing that service for free, at 47 million emotional dollars.
  • During the research block, the scene where Dave and the First Lady pose as presidential impersonators, added late in the shoot, is named by a host as their most rewatchable scene.
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29:48

What’s Aged the Best?

The 1993 cameos (Oliver Stone, Tip O'Neill, Jay Leno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ben Stein, Paul Simon); the jobs speech;...

The 1993 cameos (Oliver Stone, Tip O'Neill, Jay Leno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ben Stein, Paul Simon); the jobs speech; the soundtrack; Bob Alexander; the Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver wedding photo; the Kline and Ving Rhames scenes; the realistic DC driving; Kevin Kline's performance

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:48Read transcript
  • The cameos are tremendous and feel very 1993: Oliver Stone, Tip O'Neill, Jay Leno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the McGluffin Group (as transcribed), early Camden Yards two years in, Ben Stein and Paul Simon, not the politician; the only missing piece would be a fake SNL sketch with Phil Hartman doing Kevin Kline, and the movie feels trapped in that year.
  • The 'if you've ever seen the look on someone's face when they get a job' riff still gets a host; the soundtrack and music are happy and perfect yet completely of a moment, like the score in The Firm, the kind of score nobody writes anymore and which feels stolen for other movies and trailers.
  • Bob Alexander is a phenomenal bit and an iconic character to be discussed later, and the Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver wedding photo next to the bed is basically their Ice Storm photo before they made The Ice Storm, sideburns included, foreshadowing a movie the hosts all love.
  • The Kevin Kline and Ving Rhames scenes: Rhames, who later plays Marcellus and the Kiss of Death guy and all these crazy characters, is a straight presence here, and the exchange about his sweaters making his neck look too thick and whether to get a sweater vest is a sweet friendship.
  • DC itself: the film is said to be one of the only movies that realistically portrays what it's like to drive around Washington, unlike the virtually impossible routes most DC movies take, something the show points out about New York in nitpicks, though it helps that they don't go that many places.
  • Kevin Kline's performance counts too: he walks a fine tonal line in this that not many people could pull off, basically its own brand of comedy we haven't seen much of.
  • The cameos are one host's final answer, with the Oliver Stone one singled out as excellent and so funny, and the movie gets out of it quickly so the joke isn't beaten into the ground.
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34:21

What’s Aged the Worst?

The first 25 minutes; Charles Grodin's hair; Jay Leno's cameo

The first 25 minutes; Charles Grodin's hair; Jay Leno's cameo

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:21Read transcript
  • The movie gets better as it goes: the first 25 minutes aren't bad but are probably the weakest part, and from the moment Mitchell goes down it takes off; a host realized how many times they had caught it already in progress on HBO, so the beginning, with him coming in on the pig at the car dealership and a Steven Root cameo, was unfamiliar, a premium-cable experience from a bygone era.
  • Chuck Grodin's wig or whatever is going on with his hair, a fuller head than at any point of his career, is called out by a host with an admitted obsession with actors who suddenly have full heads of hair, McConaughey's big flowing locks included; another host, who had Dave on VHS and knows no other Charles Grodin, finds it normal.
  • Jay Leno pops into the movie with the 'too many happy meals' punchline about President Mitchell and is just bad; 26 years ago Leno was not funny, even though he was amazing in the 80s, and the whole spiel about his Letterman-era legend is saved for Craig later.
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36:21

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Bonnie Hunt

Bonnie Hunt

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:21Read transcript
  • This was tough: Grodin is in it, Ving Rhames is mentioned even though he's not really a heat check, and the initial choice is Oliver Stone, in the movie for 20 seconds and making about seven threes.
  • Bonnie Hunt is nominated for the 'we're walking, we're walking, and we're stopping' White House tour bit introducing Bob Alexander and the 42 presidents and their wives; the scene is really funny, she is pretty good, and the award is given to Bonnie Hunt.
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45:51

Apex Mountain

No affirmative selection

No affirmative selection

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:51Read transcript
  • Kevin Kline is debated: apex is meant to be objective, when he had the most power or success, so A Fish Called Wanda is possible but he arguably has more power coming off this; another host puts it at Grand Canyon, five years after the Oscar and not so far removed from it; one host votes yes for Kline and tells the other two they vote no.
  • Grand Canyon tangent: a movie about somebody who made a wrong turn leaving a Laker game, which is a host's life every day driving home on the 101 and plays on every fear of a detour leaving the Staples Center.
  • Frank Langella, one host's actorly god, has been a lot of different guys: a hit Dracula in the 70s, the star of Mel Brooks' first movie The Twelve Chairs, really good on the Showtime show Kidding, and his falling for Whoopi Goldberg is in the running for weirdest celebrity couple of the last 30 years, with Eddie called a great movie.
  • A host goes yes for Langella as his signature performance because he dials it up, having asked Ivan Reitman whether to scale back and been told to go for it, bulging his eyes at the window like a maniac while Dave balances the budget; another agrees it's his most fun performance but doubts it's his apex, and the group settles that Dracula was probably his apex.
  • Nobody else in the movie qualifies: Sigourney had peaked, and Kevin Dunn is a maybe who is coming up next.
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48:38

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Kevin Dunn

Kevin Dunn

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:38Read transcript
  • Kevin Dunn: a host never knew his name until researching the movie, knowing him only as that guy from Dave and from Mad Love with Drew Barrymore and Chris O'Donnell.
  • Dunn has been in a lot of stuff: Mississippi Burning, Hot Shots, 1492, Chaplin, Beethoven's 2nd, Little Big League, Nixon, Chain Reaction, Picture Perfect, Godzilla, Stir of Echoes, Snake Eyes, I Heart Huckabees, a bunch of Transformers movies, Warrior, and five years being really funny on Veep; he is hall-of-fame that guy, the award could be called the Kevin Dunn award, and there were no other candidates.
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49:08

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Frank Langella

Frank Langella

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:08Read transcript
  • It comes down to Grodin or Langella: Langella really dials it up a couple of times, while nobody knows what Grodin is going for and it is called one of his worst performances despite a host loving Charles Grodin; he is really stressed out and meant to be the audience stand-in and the skepticism in the movie, and his 'get out of here as fast as you can' after the budget scene is one host's single favorite line reading, since that is how most people would react.
  • The bratwurst-with-mustard food order before balancing the budget is enjoyed, and Frank Langella (transcribed as 'Franklin Jell') is picked for 'he's not a president, he's an ordinary person, I can kill an ordinary person'; he's going for it with a great rhythm, bringing his own spin as a theater actor.
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59:33

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Yes, a 10-episode Netflix series

Yes, a 10-episode Netflix series

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:33Read transcript
  • Posed as a new category, could this be remade as a 10-episode Netflix series: one host is 1,000% yes and would be in on the series, but the question is how similar a 2019-20 version would be, an optimistic comedy or the story of a coup and a cover-up.
  • Now you would make it as Trump replaced by a body double who becomes a much better president, which could be pretty interesting, though that might inadvertently humanize him and his policies; the underlying issue with the movie, if you think too hard, is the idea that all you need is a nice guy and the country will be fine, which one host still believes.
  • The Frank Capra comparison is defended: the movie is about ideas, about using public office for good and decency once ego, money, vanity and sex are disentangled, the kind of show Aaron Sorkin tried to make with The West Wing as a true believer whose dad went to school on the GI Bill; but Sorkin's president is a Nobel-winning economist accused of being an elitist, and the implication here that anyone can be president hits the wrong way today and may already have led down rocky paths, though Dave would disagree.
  • Polled yes or no: one host says no, having answered no virtually every time on this category because we got Dave the movie and a series would just be very different and a bummer; another says it can be done and is ready for another president series in general, making it two in favor against one.
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1:06:08

Who Won the Movie?

Kevin Kline

Kevin Kline

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:08Read transcript
  • Kevin Klaid (as transcribed) is the instant answer, with 'can't believe this is a podcast' and 'that was easy', followed by agreement and a shout-out to Ving Rhames.
  • A stealth case is made for Ivan Reitman, since this kind of movie is really hard to do with the right tone and could go wrong in so many ways; it may be his last great movie, after a resume of Stripes, Meatballs, Ghostbusters, Twins and Kindergarten Cop, with Junior in 94, Six Days and Seven Nights and Evolution less impressive, his style specific to a time period and this the last confluence of those events.
  • Reitman's two interesting movies this decade, No Strings Attached and Draft Day, would probably have been huge hits in 1986 or 1988; No Strings Attached, written by Liz Merriweather (as transcribed) of New Girl under a cruder original script title, is judged better than Friends with Benefits, features Kevin Kline, and the hosts admit they all like it; you're in safe hands with Ivan Reitman, who has never made a bad movie.
Podcast choices
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Kevin Kline
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Kevin Kline
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