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COVID-19 Special: 'Irresistible' (15)

Irresistible - Movie Trailers - iTunes



 Director: Jon Stewart

Cast: Steve Carell, Rose Byrne, Chris Cooper

Where can I watch?: Irresistible is streaming on Apple TV+

Rating: 2/5

Review: Everyone knows that the US political system is broken. Once fit for purpose, the manner in which elections of all sizes now take place is borderline corrupt, with money being the biggest winner. This is the premise of Jon Stewart's directorial debut... Only it's not just the 'premise', it's the stick with which you're repeatedly beaten with throughout this mercifully short and yet too long political parable. Steven Carell is Gary Zimmer, a Democratic spin doctor reeling from Hilary's 2016 election loss; upon seeing a heartfelt speech from a disgruntled war veteran (Chris Cooper), he decides to up sticks to help him win a mayoral title in a conservative Midwest town. Unfortunately, Republican spin doctor Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne) arrives to upset the apple cart and full blown electoral campaigning ensues. I have numerous issues with the film, number one being that it's grossly boring. Despite Carell pulling out all the stops to turn on the charm, the film limps from scene to scene with little to no momentum, while Byrne appears to have taken inspiration from a pantomime villain for her caricature of a character. As is clearly intended, neither Carell or Byrne's characters are in any way likeable (I guess some kudos is due here as it's not just the Republicans who are painted as the 'bad guys'), but who wants to spend time with people they just don't like? Not me. And, of course, in each and every scene, there's a klaxon going off: 'THE US POLITICAL SYSTEM IS BROKEN!' OK, Jon, we get the picture. 

A COVID-19 Must-Watch?: Sigh. There's quite a lot of positive ingredients for a good film here, from a talented cast to a clearly knowledgeable writer/director, but the result is nothing short of a dud. It's wholly unsubtle, and actually quite annoying in places. My advice? If you want a witty, enraging, motivating insight into the US political system, look out for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver instead.
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  1. aaronnssd5 September 2020 at 11:45

    Great article by you, it is very massive and informative ,so I really appreciate this article.Thanks for posting it. COVID Safe Film Production Officer in USA.

    ReplyDelete

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