Welcome to Mooseport
Review by Clint Morris
 Who
would win if the average town Joe took on a former United
States President in an election for Town Mayor?
That’s the impetus of Donald Petrie’s refreshing
new comedy, Welcome to Mooseport, which teams veteran
actor Gene Hackman with TV funnyman Ray Romano.
Monroe “Eagle” Cole [Hackman] has just wrapped
up his term as President of the United States, and with his
publicist, assistant, bodyguards and spin doctor (he’ll
come in handy later), heads to the tiny Maine coastal town
of Mooseport, where he has a vacation home.
Within a day of arriving, the town’s jovial leaders
have unanimously voted him their new Mayor.
Little do they or “Eagle” know that local handyman
Handy Harrison [Romano] has elected to be Mayor too. What
follows is a battle of wits, charm – “Eagle”
has his sights set on Handy’s girlfriend [Tierney] –
and trickery to see that the best man wins.
It’s pretty rare these days to discover a film like
Mooseport, in the sense that it offers something for
the whole family and excises any trace of the vulgar, racy
humour that a lot of other modern-day comedies seem to thrive
in.
Granted, it mightn’t be as good a film as some of those
more edgier cohorts, but it wins points for excluding no one
from it’s prospective target audience. And with Romano
(TV’s “Everybody Loves Raymond’) and Hackman
together – you’ll swear you’re watching a much
better pic than what it really is anyway.
Together, seasoned pro Hackman and the always likable everyman
Romano are a delight. Like some of the finest double-acts
to ever grace the screen, the leads fire off each other like
two old pros.
What’s good is that script enables both men to play
more than just the ‘David and Goliath’ polar opposites
the story projects – here, both guys have a heart, just
that one of them isn’t so sure how or when to use his.
Supported by the always able Maura Tierney and the ever impressive
Marcia Gay Harden, Petrie’s obviously got the knack for
casting right.
Welcome to Mooseport isn’t a side-splitter; it’s
more a ‘nice’ film with a couple of ‘nice turns’,
but sometimes a fun, feel-good film experience is just what
the overworked brain needs to turn-off for a couple of hours.
3 out of 5
Welcome to Mooseport
Australian release: Thursday April 29th
Cast: Gene Hackman, Ray Romano, Maura Tierney, Christine Baranski,
Marcia Gay Harden, Fred Savage, Rip Torn.
Director: Donald Petrie.
Website: Click
here.
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