Irresistible

Starring: Steve Carell, Rose Byrne, Chris Cooper, Mackenzie Davis, Brent Sexton,Topher Grace, Natasha Lyonne, Will Sasso

Director: Jon Stewart

Still reeling from losing the 2016 election, Democratic Strategist Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell) thinks he has found a way to get back on top. After video of the surprisingly progressive retired Marine Colonel Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper) standing up for immigrants hits the internet, Gary heads to the small rural town of Deerlaken, Wisconsin hoping to turn Gary into a Democratic candidate for Mayor and try to swing the state in the process. While Jack and his daughter Diana (Mackenzie Davis) are initially unsure about running, Jack agrees only if Gary runs his campaign. After catching wind of what Gary is up to in Deerlaken, his Republican rival Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne) comes to town to run the campaign for the incumbent Mayor Braun (Brent Sexton). As election day nears and the media attention increases, who will come out on top?

With today's political landscape, one would expect a comedy directed by Jon Stewart to come out guns blazing, a rather scathing indictment and be this generation's Primary Colors. However for the majority of its running time, we get a raunchy yet light hearted indie movie wrapped around a quirky small town election. It takes its time but thanks to a pretty clever third act reveal, Stewart's message about the hypocrisy and absurdity of politics comes to the forefront.

Stewart reunites with his Daily Show correspondent Steve Carell and it's very clear they work well together. Gary is only really likable due to Carell's charisma and charm, with him less interested in Jack's actual political stance or the town and more interested in beating his rival Faith. Carell and Byrne have fun chemistry, getting some good chuckles about how far they are each willing to go to one up each other. Faith reminded me a lot of Jenn Barkley played by Kathryn Hahn from Parks and Recreation, saying or doing anything to make things interesting and to win. It's a shame she isn't in the film more. I very much enjoyed veteran character actor Chris Cooper. He has a meatier role than it appears and when called to do so, nails the more dramatic elements of the movie. There is a speech to donors about midway through the film that is equally riveting and sobering in the reality of what he is saying.

I think the biggest problem that I had with the film is I don't think there was a moment where I actually laughed out loud. One of the funnier moments is in the trailer and while I still appreciated the joke, I knew it was coming. I still did find the film enjoyable and I did smile at small things, like Gary and Faith's constant one upping of each other and how everyone treats Gary like a celebrity at first. A lot of the small town aspects rang true and made me nostalgic for home. Maybe some of the jokes were too subtle for me truly appreciate but for a comedy with this much talent in front of and behind the camera, I expected a lot more laugh out loud moments.

Despite the lack of big laugh out loud moments, this is still a fun little flick with a strong cast and a worthwhile political message.

Grade: B

Irresistible is available on VOD