Having loved Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride and This is Spinal Tap, I saw The American President hoping I would at least like it. And I did. The title may be generic and there may be the odd cliché, but The American President is very likable and entertaining with a Frank Capra feel to it without being Rob Reiner's best. The story has a nice balance of comedy and seriousness, while the screenplay sparkles not only in the more romantic moments but especially in the final speech which was simply brilliant in both writing and delivery. Rob Reiner's direction is outstanding, while the production values are lovely and the music superb. The acting is faultless. Michael Douglas is very commanding in the lead role(that is different from his other roles I noticed) and Annette Bening in a performance that combines slinky sophistication and bubbly wit is terrific. The support from Martin Sheen, Richard Dreyfuss and especially Michael J. Fox is also top drawer. All in all, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Out of the 42 individuals who have become presidents two of them, John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson, had wives who died while they were in the White House and who courted and married women who became the second first ladies in their respective administrations. Both Julia Gardiner Tyler and Edith Bolling Galt Wilson were each remarkable first ladies in their own ways and Mrs. Wilson did become a minor issue in her husband's bid for a second term.

But none ever engendered the controversy shown here by President Michael Douglas's courtship of Annette Bening. The fictional Douglas is a widower like Tyler and Wilson and he meets and falls hard for an environmental lobbyist. When Bening spends the night in the White House and they do the deed there, their sex lives become campaign fodder for the opposition party in the person of Senate Minority Leader Richard Dreyfuss who is the likely candidate of the opposition.

The scenes between Douglas and Bening are quite tastefully done and they show that romance is not beyond the reach of the mature. Of course when you've got smarmy politicians like Dreyfuss ready to make it all sound dirty, sad to say that's all been done before. But when Tyler and Wilson were courting their women you didn't have the mass media and instant communication of today reporting everything down to the latest pelvic thrust. One wonders how things might have turned out for Tyler and Wilson had they had the media attention that President Douglas has in this film.

I actually think that Aaron Sorkin might have gotten some inspiration for The American President from Nebraska where back a few years earlier Governor Robert Kerrey was involved with actress Debra Winger. I still remember a certain New York Post columnist named Ray Kerrison getting all kinds of hot and bothered when Winger spent a night in the Governor's mansion in Lincoln, Nebraska the same way Dreyfuss is doing here. What bothered him the most is that no one seemed to care about the horrible moral transgressions being committed in the Governor's mansion.

Michael Sheen who would become an American President on a TV series created by Aaron Sorkin and Michael J. Fox are Douglas's two chief staff aides. Shawna Waldron has a nice performance as the President's daughter and she comes over like a real kid and a very unspoiled one at that considering where she's living.

The American President is a class and classy drama and you only wish more presidents would act like Douglas and Sheen in their respective fictional presidencies.

President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) is widowed and a single father of a teenage daughter. He falls head over heels for Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening),a lobbyist for an environmental group. His relationship causes major headaches for his re-election chances.

The romantic comedy part works very well. Director Rob Reiner knows exactly what he's doing. They are wonderful characters that make you fall in love with. For writer Aaron Sorkin, this is more or less a dry run for his iconic West Wing TV show. It's probably no accident that Martin Sheen is a major actor in this movie. It's a skillfully put together movie.

But the issues being talked about, gun control and global warming, is just so dated. It is left wing talking points that clanks whenever they're mentioned. Even at the time, these issues were pushing the envelope. Also the politics just seems so naive compare to today. Where we ever so innocent? This was to respond to the election of Bill Clinton and the scrutiny that he got. Monica Lewinsky has even happened yet. This is a case of reality overwhelming make-believe.