Is there room for more than one political comedy this summer season? Will Ferrell's The Campaign is going to get all the headlines and will likely make a ton of cash, but to me it doesn't look funny in the least. Fortunately, there's another film centered on a high profile electoral race that looks it may scratch the right itch for me.
Joel David Moore(Avatar) and Jason Biggs(American Pie) star in Grassroots, a new political dramedy from Stephen Gyllenhaal(Losing Isaiah), the father of Jake and Maggie. Set in 2001, the film follows the true story of Grant Cogswell, a quirky music reviewer for Seattle's 'The Stranger' newspaper, who decides on a whim to run for City Councilman against the incumbent, Richard McIver, with a totally grassroots campaign that featured no major financial backing. Moore stars as the eccentric Cogswell, who runs on a platform of fixing Seattle's transit system with a citywide monorail. He's joined in his unlikely quest by campaign manager, Phil Campbell, a recently fired writer from the same paper. The film is based on Campbell's memoir, Zioncheck for President.
The trailer for Grassroots has been released, ahead of its Seattle opening on June 22nd, and it's exactly the type of political film I tend to flock to. Cogswell's campaign, while ultimately unsuccessful, is one that I like to reference because it shows how one man can truly make a difference in local politics. By using a combination of Seattle's ballot initiative system(which every state should have), along with clever appeals to untapped special interest groups, Cogswell was able to make a serious run for McIver's seat, and ruffle some feathers along the way. We've rarely had the chance to see Moore in a leading role, and he looks more than capable here capturing Cogswell's unpredictability. The supporting cast is equally impressive, with Biggs being joined by Cedric the Entertainer, Lauren Ambrose, Cobie Smulders, Tom Arnold, and Christopher McDonald.
After Seattle, Grassroots will move to Portland the next week, and hopefully will find its way here to Washington, DC where we could use an uplifting movie like this. Check out the trailer for Grassroots below....
