My Fellow Americans (1996)

The premise of the film is that current office-holder President William Haney (Dan Ackroyd) was involved in an illegal kick-back scheme, giving contracts to a defense company for cash when he was vice president. To prevent the downfall of Haney's presidency, his assistant Carl Witnaur (Bradley Whitford) creates an ingenious cover-up: pin it on former president Russell Kramer (Jack Lemmon). Now while kick-backs are viewed as essentially like bribes, these transgressions may pale in comparison to the nightmare of a Donald Trump presidency. At this writing, Donald Trump was just elected the 45th president of the United States, and the country's divisive nature is rearing its ugly head with protests against a Trump presidency in several urban centers.The film essentially veers away from any controversy and is essentially a harmless road-movie comedy. The premise is that because of the cover-up, the forces loyal to Haney are hunting down both former presidents Kramer and his republican rival President Matt Douglas (James Garner), both one-term presidents. They are forced to help each other, traveling to Kramer's presidential library in Cleveland, OH. Lemon as Kramer seems loosely based on President George H.W. Bush, conservative republican, and President Douglas is loosely based on President Bill Clinton, womanizing democrat. The main outcome which is only applied with a sledge-hammer is that the one-term presidents of opposing parties have more in common than they realize.Similar to many other road films, from "the Silver Streak" with Gene Wilder and Richard Prior in the 1970's to "Get Him to the Greek" starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill in 2010, "My Fellow Americans" is the tried-and-true formula of two reluctant traveling companions who discover more about one-another than when they were political rivals. They intersect with members of middle America with which they probably wouldn't have ever seen even at campaign rallies, except maybe in issues of The National Enquirer: an obese female trucker, lower-middle class unemployed's, gays and lesbians in a small town, and, my favorite "dykes on bikes".They learn that there's more to the working lower middle-class than meets the eye but again, it's kind of too obvious for its own good. Inter-spliced with this supposedly "deep" message is a lot of goofy bits. For example, they meet an Elvis impersonator about to board a costume-party train (rings a bit like scenes from "Trading Places"), and he assumes they're actors or impersonators dressed like recent US presidents. In another moment, their car is skewered by a "Jack in the Box" statue at a fast food stop while on the road.The biggest problem is the film tries to be goofy yet somehow poignant, but it can't make up it's mind as to which road it wants to take. "Primary Colors", a far superior film to "My Fellow Americans" found an excellent balance between comedy and its darker message. In places "Primary Colors" was very funny, but the humor derived from scenes in which real politicians could be imagined engaging in outrageous behavior, such as when John Travolta as Governor Stanton throws his cell phone out of their car and they have to find it in the shrubbery. By contrast, many scenes in "My Fellow Americans" were too outrageous to be believed. The end up in a small town among a gay pride parade, hiding from their would-be assassins. The locals mistakenly believe the two presidents are "coming out". Seems like it would have been easy to go to the local authorities and contact the FBI or Secret Service! However they never seem to be able to acquire any assistance from anyone in Washington while on the road, and the baddies easily find them. One scene I did like was when they finally reach President Kramer's library, and there's a cut-out standing board with Lemmon as a young actor in uniform, supposedly when Kramer was a Second World War soldier.A decent one-watch but unfortunately a comedy which had much more potential than it realizes. The characters end up appreciating they are "both Americans". Oh brother. The espionage part is kind of interesting, but the road aspect seemed to be long strings of contrived set-up's for crazy comedic moments which were very forced. What silly thing is going to happen to them next? The two leads, Jack Lemmon and James Garner who are heavy-hitting dramatic-comedic talents make it work. In lesser hands it would have been more like a prolonged Saturday Night Live sketch. However, their characters' supposedly rivalry look more like Superman and Batman. The Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton rivalry of the last election ring more of Eleanor Roosevelt versus Dracula.

Jack Lemmon and James Garner are two veteran actors who rarely disappoint with their performances. Their roles in "My Fellow Americans" are no different. They're both solid and professional, they're appropriately and not outrageously funny and they work well together playing former U.S. Presidents Kramer and Douglas respectively. Political rivals, one a Republican and one a Democrat, they loathe each other. Then, unexpectedly, they find themselves thrust into the middle of a scandal revolving around the current President, played by Dan Aykroyd, who sets out to use all the weapons at his disposal to kill them. Forced to team up, Kramer and Douglas are on the run together, searching for the evidence that will exonerate them.Yes, Lemmon and Garner were good. But the overall story? Well ... It had potential, but I honestly thought it was a bit weak. Somehow, it just didn't reach out and grab me. I found the pace a little off, and the story not entirely clear. It was worth watching, thanks to Lemmon and Garner, but those performances aside, I found this lacking. (5/10)

Well, its close to the time of changing presidents and this movie sprung to my mind to watch. "My Fellow Americans" is a great movie simply due to the team of Jack Lemmon and James Garner. As the two feuding ex-presidents they make this movie. Nothing is more comical than watching the two forced to sort through a recent scandal, along with an assassination plot on their lives, all the while a respect happens between the two, yet their disdain for each other adds to the hilarity of the movie. Lemmon and Garner not only carry the movie, you almost think of them as actually being former Presidents of the United States. It is a movie to just sit back and enjoy, a funny spin on American politics at it's best.

"My Fellow Americans" boasts a well-crafted and quite funny script about two former presidents and longtime political rivals who must team up to expose a criminal scheme in which the sitting chief executive is implicated. Along the way, their efforts result in numerous farcically-staged attempts on their lives. That the screenplay works quite well in political thriller terms, with dramatically satisfying plot twists throughout, is rewarding enough; it's so much icing on the cake that the accompanying gags are equally strong, making this one of the most facile blends of suspense and comedy since the films of Colin Higgins. The screenplay's considerable entertainment value -- particularly for a political junkie -- is enhanced and brought to its full potential by solid direction and cutting, as well as the unassailable professionalism of a first-rate cast. The on screen chemistry and formidable comic timing of Jack Lemmon and James Garner as the former presidents, in their first and only screen pairing, is delightful, and thankfully so: one or both dominate almost every scene in the film. They receive equally expert support from Lauren Bacall, demonstrating her rarely-exploited talent for comedy; Dan Aykroyd in an uncharacteristically restrained performance; and the always-solidly professional John Heard, as well as an extraordinarily sharp supporting cast studded with many familiar faces -- such as Wilford Brimley ("China Syndrome"), Sela Ward, and Esther Rolle of "Good Times" fame -- though not all are necessarily household names. Any lover of political satire or action-oriented farce will find this film's running time to be time well spent, and C-SPAN addicts -- provided that they have a sense of humor about their passion – will be richly rewarded.