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From the Watergate era of “All the President’s Men,” we fast-forward two decades to a very different sort of White House-based film – “The American President” (1995), directed by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin.
Michael Douglas supplies one of his most charming performances in this romantic comedy as President Andrew Shepherd, a widowed commander-in-chief who sees his approval ratings take a nose dive when he initiates a romance with lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Benning). Remember when something like that mattered?
Sorkin’s signature “walk-and-talk” screenplay is sharp, and the film succeeds in humanizing Shepherd through mundanities, such as a world leader trying to figure out how to order flowers without a credit card. In a double-dose of nostalgia from our current perspective, the film (like its director) is idealistic without apology – culminating in a feel-good closing speech that could have been lifted straight out of a Frank Capra film of the 1940’s.
Politics was probably never as civil as it is depicted here by Reiner and Sorkin (or by Capra, for that matter). Yet it’s fascinating to consider that at one time audiences could be sold on the idea of it being possible. Can we still today? We’ll find out. Also featuring Martin Sheen and Michael J. Fox.
Friday January 9, 2026
Universalist Unitarian Church of Santa Paula
740 E. Main St
7:00 PM • FREE ! • Enter Side Door